


Shokh

by Triskellion



Series: The Uchahvia [3]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Alien Culture, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alien Sex, M/M, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-03 13:19:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1746122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triskellion/pseuds/Triskellion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's time to share the good news with their friends, and maybe a few honest truths here and there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bruce and Alfred

**Author's Note:**

> The basis of this one will be telling everyone about the wedding and babies. Not sure where else it might go, but we'll see what evolves.

Clark woke to the feel of Lex’s hand stroking across his abs and gray eyes looking down at him.

“Sleep well?” Clark asked softly.

Lex jerked a little, gaze darting up to meet Clark’s even as Lex’s fingers froze in place. “You can’t even tell they’re in there.”

Having done the same thing more than once in the two months since Jor-El told him he was pregnant, Clark smiled and caught Lex’s hand, pressing it just over his stomach. It was just a bit harder there, a different texture under the muscles. Clark had only noticed the difference the other day.

“They may be a bit small at birth, just because of how awkward their womb is. But Jor-El says the development looks pretty normal otherwise. And Kryponian babies are usually small. The records say four to six pounds is actually large.”

A tear glinted in Lex’s eye, but never fell, as he leaned in and pressed his lips to Clark’s skin just over their daughters. “Please tell me they get bigger fast, or we’re going to have to hide them for a bit. Not that they’re going to be easy to explain—“

“Triple their weight in a week and straight to soft foods,” Clark assured him. “We’ll figure it all out. Together.”

The look in Lex’s eyes would have quickly triggered another round of celebration of the phone hadn’t rung just then.

“What?” Lex snarled into the phone, gaze never leaving Clark.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. President. I was concerned when you didn’t come down to the office.”

Clark chuckled softly and checked the alarm clock on the bedside table. Ten. Huh. Well, Lex hadn’t been getting enough sleep since the miscarriage.

Rising to his knees, Clark curled around Lex and pressed a kiss to the back of his head, right at that little bump that had fascinated him so as a boy. “Tell them you’re fine and hang up,” he whispered, sliding his hand down Lex’s abs.

“I overslept. Cancel my meetings. I’ll be in the Penthouse all day.” Lex didn’t let his secretary reply, though she was probably well trained enough not to expect otherwise, before hanging up.

“Now,” Lex purred, “I believe we have an engagement to celebrate.”

Clark gave Lex’s tentacles a teasing squeeze before bouncing out of bed. “Shower then breakfast. Bruce should be up by then. And if not, we can wake him up.” He was in the doorway of the bathroom before he finished speaking. Behind him, Lex sputtered undeveloped protests. A glance over his shoulder showed Clark that Lex was more than a little wound up.

“Coming?” Clark drawled.

Lex almost superspeeded into the bathroom.

~o0o~

“What an appalling pile of rock,” Lex drawled as Clark set him down on the back patio of Wayne Manor. He’d made deals with Wayne Enterprises in the past, and even with Bruce himself, but it had been decades since he’d been to the Manor. He’d thought it appalling then, but Bruce hadn’t improved anything with his remodel.

“Say’s the man who owns a Scottish castle in the middle of a cornfield,” Clark countered.

Lex raised an eyebrow. “I am not responsible for my father’s idiocies. Bruce, on the other hand, could have improved this monstrosity after he burned it down, so he has no excuse. Besides, I don’t live in the castle.”

“Not anymore,” Clark muttered, opening the glass door without waiting for any sign of life from inside.

“Bruce awake?” Lex drawled, following his fiancé—oh, he so liked the sound of that—in.

“Alfred is trying to wake him. Again, from the sound of things,” Clark said. “Maybe I should have given them a bit more warning.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Lex let Clark lead the way, until they came to rest in a dining room of some kind that Lex had never seen before. The room must have been in one of the tower elements, the curved outer wall being all windows that lit up the moderately sized space with plenty of morning sunlight. Not that there was much ‘morning’ light left.

Alfred was definitely prepared for guests, however. The back wall was lined with a buffet table covered in chafing dishes. Within was enough food for twenty, easy. Well, maybe three Clarks, back when he was in full fettle. Now he was barely eating half his normal intake and it was likely to be down to near nothing by the eighth month.

A couple of the windows could be opened, and as soon as Clark had filled his place, Lex nudged him into a spot in the unfiltered sun.

It took Bruce another twenty minutes to appear, though he did managed to pull himself together enough to appear presentable.

Alfred, coming in at his master/ward’s shoulder frowned at Clark. “Is there something wrong with the food, Master Clark? You should have called me right away.” He bustled over to the buffet table, scanning which chafing dishes had a dent in them and which didn’t. Since Clark was only nibbling lightly at his second plate and Lex was never capable of packing it away like that, there weren’t many dents.

“Nothing wrong with the food at all, Alfred. It’s wonderful as always,” Clark said honestly.

“I don’t suppose you’d share your trick with the waffles with my cook?” Lex asked. “Hers are good, but these are divine.”

“Certainly, Master Lex,” Alfred replied, but he still was giving Clark the stink eye, in his own proper manner.

“What brings the two of you to my humble abode?” Bruce set a plate with only some appalling looking green concoction on it. Lex had noted the slop and ignored it. Alfred surely hadn’t made a mistake in his cooking, but no way Lex was going near something that looked like nuclear waste. He watched carefully as it came closer to Clark, making sure it didn’t start glowing as well.

“Wanted to tell you the good news,” Clark said around a mouthful of fruit. Given his smile at the disgusted glare Lex shot back, he’d done that on purpose.

Bruce raised a well-manicured eyebrow. “Good news?”

“Congratulations, Master Lex, Master Clark,” Alfred cut in. “When is the big day?”

Bruce looked suspicious, but Lex knew him just well enough to know it was a cover for surprise.

Clark laughed. “We haven’t set a date yet. Lex just proposed last night.”

“Lex proposed?” Alfred said. “Hmm, I admit I had rather expected the other way around.”

Lex leaned over and caught Clark’s hand, then pressed a kiss to those large, perfect knuckles. “I can be a gentleman, Alfred, your previous experiences with me aside.”

“Congratulations,” Bruce said, not sounding at all begrudging. “It’s been a long time coming.”

“True,” Lex admitted. Decades. 

Clark snickered. “Kon told us he considers flowers and chocolates much better flirting materials than death rays and kryptonite.”

“He’s right,” Bruce said.

Lex raised an eyebrow. “Says the man whose best relationship right now includes cat burglary and hand-to-hand combat.”

“He does have something of a point, sir,” Alfred said. “Have you told Master Conner?”

“Tonight,” Lex said, and made a note to make sure they did so. Not that their son might well know by now. “But we’re not here to deride Bruce’s sense of romance. Bruce, while we haven’t set the date yet, I’m sure it will be soon.” Lex would make sure of that. “I’d be honored if you’d be my best man.” He’d been considering the matter since yesterday and figured he’d better ask before Clark could. They were both a little short on close friends these days.

Honest pleasure crossed Bruce’s face. “Lex, I would be honored.”

Clark chuckled. “Good choice. It certainly can’t be me this time.”

“You are in rather a different position this time. Perhaps my life would have been smoother if I’d switched you for one of my brides years ago.”

“I do believe Master Clark was a bit… underaged the last time he stood beside you,” Alfred commented dryly.

“True,” Lex conceded. Not that Clark had looked it. He scanned his eyes up and down his lover—he really liked the sound of that—and smiled. Not too young anymore.

“Now, if Master Clark will just tell me honestly what is wrong with the food, I’ll go down to the kitchen and fix the matter.”

“Sit down, Alfred,” Lex said firmly.

“There’s really nothing wrong with the food.” Clark shoved another bite in his mouth.

“Clark’s appetite is down,” Bruce said with his usual insight. When Lex glared, he added, “No, I haven’t bugged your penthouse again, and thank you for not putting me in the suit with Oliver.”

“You stayed out of my corporate office and bedroom.” Lex hadn’t really considered it, though Clark had mentioned bugs from Bruce. Perhaps because there wasn’t the history of animosity between them.

“And never used any info you did get to attack LuthorCorp,” Clark chirped. “Alfred, really, sit down.”

“So, what’s your theory?” Lex asked, leaning back and watching his old friend carefully. So he’d missed the engagement. Bruce wasn’t dumb, he might have figured something out.

“Something to do with your transformation is my best guess. Beyond that, not enough information,” Bruce said.

“I’m pregnant,” Clark chirped. “Twins.”

Bruce looked a little shellshocked, but Alfred frowned thoughtfully at the plate.

“You should be eating more, not less,” Alfred said just as Bruce spat out, “That possibility wasn’t in the files you gave me.”

“Jor-El was surprised too, I assure you,” Clark said dryly.

“We had no idea, but somehow the change allows the stomach to act as a womb. Clark is running out of room to pack food away in,” Lex added.

“Small meals at regular intervals, no junk,” Alfred said flatly. “I’ll make up some recommendations for your cook, things to keep around and bring to work.”

Clark smiled. “Yes, Alfred.”

Lex bit his lip. There was one other matter, the reason he’d wanted Alfred to sit, that they’d discussed on the flight over. “Alfred… while it seems unlikely in the overall… we’d like to name you guardian if anything should happen to us.” He had no idea how old the older man was. He’d looked about the same for as long as Lex could remember. Dumping something like this on him might be more than he could handle, but who else could they trust to handle two part Kryptonian kids? Martha was gone.

“Me?” Alfred looked both surprised and pleased. “I’d be honored, Master Lex, but surely Master Conner—“

“Conner has his own life to live, and while he’s good….” Clark paused.

“He’s still very young in most ways,” Lex said, pretty sure he had the thread of Clark’s thought. Neither of them had really considered their son. “We might change things in a few years, but right now he needs to have a life beyond his siblings. Not to mention how the whole Superman thing would impact matters.”

“He’d be able to help,” Clark said, “but he’s not ready to be primary caretaker. You, on the other hand, have proven yourself capable of anything.”

A small smirk crossed Alfred’s face, there and gone in a moment. “Very well. I consent. But I think it would be better for all involved that nothing happen to either of you.”

Remembering how fast he’d healed from the one assassination attempt that had made it through the Secret Service, Lex wasn’t too concerned. It was just one of those things you did when you had kids, made sure there was someone else. Just in case.

“I assume you’ll want the wedding before Clark start showing,” Bruce said.

“Not sure how much he will show,” Lex countered, remembering the faint bump he’d felt under Clark’s skin earlier, little more than a texture shift. “But sooner is better. In the next month by preference. It’ll take that long for the Secret Service to approve of the venue.”

“Twins,” Alfred said thoughtfully. “Do you have pictures yet?”

Lex lit up, grinning. “Oh, can Jor-El produce pictures.”

Clark looked thoughtful. “I believe so.” He smiled. “We could swing up and get some after breakfast.”

“Can I be the one to show them to Oliver?”


	2. Agent Miles and Conner

Clark should have been watching where he was going as he flew back to Lex’s penthouse. He should have checked for watchers before he landed on the patio in his civies, Lex in his arms.

In truth, Clark barely missed flying into a few buildings and his eyes never even looked into the penthouse before he landed because Lex had shoved his hand down the front of Clark’s pants over Missouri and nothing much had mattered with those fingers tickling through his tentacles.

Which is why, when Clark finally looked up, he was surprised to see Lex’s head of security staring at them through the sliding glass door with a look of utter shock.

“Oh shit,” Clark muttered into Lex’s lips, firmly attached to his own.

It took a moment, but Lex finally paused, pulled back, frowned at Clark’s expression, and turned to look. “You idiot,” he spat, and Clark wasn’t entirely sure who Lex was speaking to.

Another moment was required to disentangle Lex’s fingers from Clark, but after that Lex managed to look completely in control as he strode into his living space. Clark, on the other hand, surely looked like he’d been doing exactly what he’d been doing—making out with his fiancé while flying through the air.

“What are you doing here?” Lex snapped at the Secret Service agent.

“You called in, late, to your secretary. You weren’t answering the phone despite claiming you were remaining in the penthouse all day. And I don’t….” Agent Miles stopped there, but Clark had a hunch the end of that was “trust that Kent fellow” or something like that. Agent Miles frowned and firmed up his spine. “You’re lucky I didn’t have the entire team in here looking for clues to your abduction.”

Lex sighed and ran a hand over his scalp, a habit he’d shed long ago but Clark rather adored. He liked running his own hand over Lex’s scalp even more, but this was no longer the time for that, clearly.

“Clark, I’m going to need a few minutes with Agent Miles.”

“I’ll go check in with Lois,” Clark said by way of agreement. “Umm, I was thinking… maybe we could have her over for dinner… to tell her….” Since trying to tell her at work hadn’t gone so well.

“Not tonight,” Lex replied, eyes fixed on Agent Miles and the near shocky expression still on his face. “We have to tell Conner tonight. Tomorrow.” Lex paused and turned so he was facing Clark again. “Actually, invite Conner both nights. We could use a buffer against your ex.”

Clark smiled. That was his Lex, always thinking ahead. “Sounds good. Umm… About him?” He gestured towards the secret service agent.

“My fault,” Lex said, much to Clark’s surprise. “I’ll sort things out.”

“Don’t….” Clark trailed off. He didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t exactly want to trust the man with his secrets, but he did trust the man with Lex’s life, and they’d be living together for the future… so…? Clark didn’t quite know what to think, but he didn’t really want the man dead for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Lex had killed for Clark’s secrets in the past.

“Probably not necessary.” Lex smiled. “Go deal with your ex, I’ll deal with my employee, and we need to pay more attention next time.”

Clark nodded, and when he stepped forward he might have used a little too much speed. But he got a good kiss before bounding back into the air and off to the Daily Planet.

~o0o~

Lex shifted his hips as he turned back to Miles and hoped his tentacles would settle down soon. He shouldn’t have teased Clark like that. He knew better. But old fantasies had been surfacing a lot lately.

And now he had to deal with the consequences of letting his libido run away with him.

“I’ll be sure to call my head of security directly next time,” Les drawled, sauntering over to the kitchen. He didn’t need anything to eat, not after Alfred’s spread, but a drink in hand would help shore up his confidence, and alcohol would just make him look bad since it was still before noon. He couldn’t let himself seem that rattled by Miles.

“Don’t you mean me?” Miles countered, trailing after Lex like a lost puppy.

“That depends on a few things.” Lex poured a glass of orange juice. He’d have to tell Mrs. Conroy to up the order with Clark moving in. He set Alfred’s list of suggested meals for Clark next to the list Jor-El had already provided. The increased variety would be good for Clark. Lex turned back to Miles, but let his eyes scan right past the man. “Like what you’re going to do with what you just saw.”

“I’m not sure I understand, Mr. President,” Miles said stiffly.

Lex raised an eyebrow, then his glass. Taking a sip drew out the silence nicely. Lex stalked past Miles back into the living room. Over his shoulder, he said, “You’re not an idiot, Agent Miles.”

The silence lingered, and Lex started wondering if he needed to dig up some old contacts to take care of Agent Miles. It would be a pity, and he’d have to be very careful. The Secret Service would investigate extensively. But Lex would not let his Secret Service detail hurt Clark. Or their children. Kryptonite was out for the duration. He’d have to get Conner in on that tonight.

“Either Clark Kent is more extensively mutated than he’s admitted, or….”

Lex turned back to Miles, eyebrow raised as he waited.

“Your childhood friend is Superman.” Miles didn’t seem quite ready to believe it.

“Kal-El,” Lex said blandly. “He doesn’t care much for that moniker, for all that he married the woman who gave it to him.”

“Sir…?”

“I don’t think more than half a dozen civilians know that.” Which was probably bullshit, but he needed to get Miles’ loyalty on this one. Lex settled into his couch, opposite the end Clark had ruined last night. Lex made a mental note to have the couch replaced tomorrow.

“Are you seriously telling me—“

“Miles, don’t play stupid,” Lex snapped. “You need to decide if you can keep those details to yourself, or I need to pick out your tombstone.”

“Mr. President!” Miles sounded offended. Good. Maybe he was going to survive. “Kal-El has saved my life twice. I would never betray him, even if his secrets didn’t overlap with my duty to you.”

“You’re the one who dragged him off for a secret grilling,” Lex offered wryly, not quite ready to relax. He tried to imagine when Miles would have been around Superman, either in the Secret Service or before. Clark hadn’t bothered much with saving the president, partly because he’d know Lex would have lambasted him, but also because he seemed to trust the Secret Service to do their jobs.

“I didn’t… How could I… it looked…” Miles sputtered.

Lex rolled his head and shot Miles an amused look. “Complete sentences, please.”

“I cannot properly protect you if I do not know all the facts, Mr. President. Where were you this morning?”

“Safe,” Lex said flatly.

“Sir….”

Sighing softly, Lex went back to sorting possible means of disposing of Miles. “Safe. I was with Clark. We visited a mutual friend. Not all such friends will take well to the Social Service stalking them.”

“JLA?” Miles asked, finally showing some perception. 

Lex just glared.

“Not all of them seem so trustworthy.”

“You have a point,” Lex said, almost smiling. “I assure you I know which ones are. But if you want to up security when Oliver Queen is around, I won’t protest.”

Miles frowned, brow furrowed for a moment as that one sunk in. “Sir?”

Lex raised an eyebrow.

Miles nodded. “I would appreciate knowing when you leave our security.” He took a deep breath and swallowed hard before continuing. “And I would like to know what happened two months ago.”

“If you share this even with your subordinates….” 

“With my replacement, only if I deem it necessary,” Miles said firmly.

Lex frowned. “Tombstone.”

“Noted, sir.”

“I need you to have your men secure Luthor Castle in Smallville. Preferably before the end of the month.”

“Sir?”

“I will be marrying Clark there, as soon as possible.” The Kent farm was also appealing, but given the caliber of some of the guests Lex would have to invite as a former president of the United States, the manor would be better.

“It isn’t my place to comment on social issues, but there will be complications,” Miles said. If his tone hadn’t been thoughtful, Lex might have thrown a fit. Or at least his glass. But there was no distain, only concern.

“No, it isn’t your place. And since Clark, thanks to the quirks of our mutually alien biology, is currently four months pregnant with my daughters….” Lex trailed off and let that sink in.

“Miscarriage.” Miles looked a little green when Lex nodded. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Never mention it again,” Lex said flatly.

“Yes, Mr. President. Protocol usually means we would begin securing Mr. Kent’s safety as we do yours….” He frowned, clearly seeing the complications.

“Find a way to avoid that. Clark won’t go for it.”

“I’ll… see what I can do.”

“Do.” Lex drained his drink and stood. Miles was still standing there. “You’re dismissed, Agent Miles.”

“Sir… Any other…” Miles bit his lip and clasped his hands behind his back. “Is there anything else I should know?”

Lex took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his scalp. He was going to have to break himself of that habit all over again. “Clark will have full access. I will call if we go anywhere without your staff. Conner Kent will also have full access.”

“Mr. Kent’s brother.”

“A clone my father created combining my DNA with Clark’s. I suggest you think of him as my son and treat him as such.”

Miles’ eyes widened again, but he recovered faster this time. “Yes, sir.”

Maybe Lex wouldn’t have to have him killed.

“Lois Lane will be over for dinner tomorrow.” Lex spotted a planned protest and held up a hand. “Feel free to hassle her, but don’t make her late. I fear she will be around from time to time. Create a protocol and deal with it.”

“Yes, sir,” Miles said dryly.

Lex was about to wave him off again when one more thought hit. “Start looking for nannies. Deep background checks on anyone with experience with metahuman children. Gender irrelevant.” Lex sighed as he watched Miles frown. “I know a perfect choice, but he’d never leave his current position. You have five months.”

Miles took a deep breath. “Yes, sir.”

This time he left without further prompting. Lex would keep a close eye on him for a bit, but it looked promising.

~o0o~

Clark had managed to contact Conner by telepathy. He hadn’t been able to express the time, but he was pretty sure he’d gotten the dinner invitation across just fine. And Conner seemed pleased with the idea.

Clark was certain of that when he got back to the penthouse and found Conner and Lex surrounded by a half dozen lawyers. Standing in the doorway, Clark listened, and was amazed.

Lex was creating trusts for their daughters, and from Conner’s comments it was just like the one he had. College would be no issue no matter what the economy did. Not that Clark had been concerned. But he was surprised to note that Conner seemed to be Lex’s heir for the company.

“Hey, Lex,” Clark said when Lex finally noticed him. Lex came over and pressed a kiss to Clark’s lips. 

“Welcome home.”

Clark lit up, and he knew it. “Home,” he murmured, and kissed Lex again.

Lex laughed. “All right, off with you all. Get those put together by… tomorrow afternoon. I’ll sign everything then.”

The lawyers seemed surprised it wasn’t tomorrow morning first thing, and filed out smiling.

“Conner,” Clark said once they were gone, and hugged his son.

“You promised me food,” Conner said plaintively.

Clark laughed and Lex led them to the dining room. Mrs. Conroy, who’d been offering nibbles to the lawyers for some time, had also put together dinner. She had it on the table in moments.

“So, Pops, feeling a bit better?” Conner said.

“Why do you say that?” Lex asked.

“You’re finally setting up trusts,” Conner replied.

“He is,” Clark said. “And Lex, how long as Conner been in line to inherit LuthorCorp?”

Lex laughed. “Oh, since college. He showed potential, and I’ve been offering a bit of training from time to time.”

“He asked me… I know it would have been hard to explain….” Conner shrugged. “But why not?”

Clark sighed. “Why not.”

Lex chuckled. “It would have made sense. After all, you’ve been in my will to get my personal fortune since you were sixteen. Before Conner, you would have gotten the company.”

Clark’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. “Me?” he asked once he pulled it together.

“After Helen… well, next time Dad would have had more trouble getting his hands on everything. I doubt you could have held him off forever, but hopefully long enough for me to get back if it was another… mistake.”

Clark stood and walked over to Lex, wrapping an arm around his lover’s shoulders. “I would have said yes. Of course I would. But why never say anything… and we were… so long…?”

Lex shrugged, not meeting Clark’s eyes. “Never bothered to change it.”

Conner rolled his eyes. “Besotted. Besotted,” he coughed quietly.

“Your wives?” Clark asked.

“Clauses to a lot them a few million, assuming they didn’t have me murdered. And to create trusts for any kids proven to be mine with DNA tests.” Lex shrugged again, but turned and pressed a kiss to Clark’s lips. 

“Thank you,” Clark murmured, then went back to his seat. They were getting a smaller table. Tomorrow. 

Well, maybe the day after tomorrow. After Lois came.

“So,” Clark said, eyeing Conner. “Your Pops”—he watched Lex flinch—“is feeling better. And he proposed last night.”

“Please tell me you said yes.” Conner half stood from his chair, looking ready to launch himself over the table and beat some sense into Clark if needed.

“Of course I did,” Clark said disdainfully, and Conner laughed.

“Yes. No longer the child of a broken home.” Conner clapped his hands in delight. “So, when’s the big day?”

“Agent Miles will give me a time frame on securing the castle tomorrow, so we can set the date. Within the month, I should think,” Lex said.

“On the subject of Agent Miles,” Clark said. He was relieved to hear the agent’s name. If he was still alive, things might stay that way.

“Stable. I’ll monitor.” Lex met Clark’s eyes, so Clark was pretty sure things really were good.

“Umm… what?” Conner asked.

Clark explained, with burning cheeks, what Agent Miles had seen earlier, but it quickly devolved to describing the visit with Bruce and Alfred. Conner didn’t seem concerned about Agent Miles, so Clark stopped worrying. Lex would surely do enough for all of them.

“So if Bruce is Pops’ best man, who’s yours?” Conner asked.

“Well,” Clark said, drawing it out a bit. “I was thinking of asking you.”

“Hell no,” Conner exclaimed.

“Oh,” Clark said, a bit startled and a lot saddened.

“I’m gonna be ring bearer. Proper place for the illegitimate son when his parents finally get together.” Conner was grinning fit to split his face. And Lex was doing the same.

“And we’ll explain that to the Prince of Wales how?” Lex said dryly even as he grinned.

“You’re the ex-president of the US, and you’re getting gay married. I’m sure a bit of oddness will be ignored.”

Clark chuckled. Conner had a point. Nothing about this was going to look normal, even before they had to start explaining newborn twins.

Actually, he just might have an idea for a best man then.


	3. Jimmy, J'onn, & Lois

Lois had been giving Clark weird looks since the dinner invitation the day before, but Clark was kind of used to that at this point. He wasn’t sure when she last wasn’t giving him weird looks. Still, there must have been something a bit different about it because Jimmy cornered Clark during his lunch run.

“Um… Clark… I hate to intrude… but….”

“What’s up, Jimmy?” Clark finally prompted when the photographer seemed incapable of continuing.

“Lois… I mean, you and Lois… No, I mean—“

“Lois and I are fine. Not married, of course, but she’s been pretty happy sinking her teeth in to the Lionel Luthor scandals….” Clark wished he could raise any eyebrow like Lex, but it was a skill he’d never picked up.

“What did you do to her yesterday,” Jimmy hissed. “First you come in late, then you… and she….”

Clark rubbed his forehead. “Damn, I thought she was okay. I’m sorry if she jumped on you—“

“No, no.” Jimmy leaned in, not that they weren’t standing pretty close together already, and hissed, “She was nice.”

A snort of laughter broke from Clark. “She… Really?”

Jimmy nodded his head vigorously. “It freaked me out.”

“I’m so sorry, Jimmy. I just invited her to dinner with Lex and I tonight.”

Jimmy stared at Clark with eyes almost as wide as an anime girl. “Lex… as in President Luthor?”

Clark blushed, he could feel the warmth in his cheeks and once again wondered why he could control that reaction as Superman but never as Clark. 

“Umm, so Lois’ first divorce filing—“

“No!” Clark ducked his head and repeated more softly, “No. I’d never cheat on Lois.” He shrugged and smiled wryly. “But once we were divorced…” Clark considered a moment, watching Jimmy’s expression of bemusement. “Look… We’re having Lois over tonight to tell her that we’re getting married next month.”

Jimmy’s jaw tried to hit the floor. “You… You…?”

Clark smiled, feeling the delight of his new relationship fill his expression. “Me and Lex. Just… keep your mouth shut until the announcement?”

“Of course,” Jimmy snapped, pulling himself together. “I wouldn’t… I’ve never…”

Clark put a hand on his long time friend’s shoulder. “I know. Thank you. I meant to ask you in a week or two, when we had a firm date—“

“You said next month.”

“Around about then. The Secret Service needs to decide when they can have the site secure, and then we’ll set the date, send out invitations, announce, and all that.”

Jimmy shook his head, that bemused expression back on his face.

“It’s gonna be a small event, well, relatively small.” Lex had already started sketching out which international dignitaries he had to invite and which he could risk snubbing. Then there were those he actually expected to attend on such short notice. “No reporters.”

“Right.” Jimmy looked a little downtrodden.

“Not as reporters,” Clark added quickly. “We were hoping you might be our photographer.” Actually, it would save them a fortune not needing to find a wedding photographer that could pass security clearance in their timeframe. Sure the Secret Service would blow a gasket, but Clark had every confidence that Lex could push Jimmy through, and he’d do a good job.

A shy grin built slowly on Jimmy’s face. “Really?”

Clark nodded. “Really.”

“I’d be… wow. Of course.” Jimmy’s jaw flapped for a moment, but then he pulled himself together and just added, “Thank you.”

~o0o~

Lex had spent most of the day with his lawyers and the FBI representatives he’d been avoiding for the last two months. It was important to push forward with taking down Oliver. Lex wanted the bastard defanged before the wedding.

However, the real reason he’d been working so hard was to not think about the call he’d made late last night, with Clark holding his hand, to J’onn. They agreed to meet late this afternoon.

He only hoped he’d not still be crying when Lois came over.

“Lex, I am relieved to see you are well,” J’onn said upon alighting on the patio. Lex made a note to let Agent Miles know about the Martian Manhunter coming around. Later. This was not the time to get distracted.

“Umm, mostly,” Lex said with an unusual lack of confidence. “Can we sit?”

J’onn nodded regally and Lex led the way into the living room. The couch there was comfortable, really comfortable, though he still needed to do something about the water damage from Clark’s dip in the river.

Tomorrow.

“I heard you were injured, but did not hear from you since,” J’onn began.

“Not injured…” Lex took a deep breath and told himself to get a grip.

“There was much talk of blood….”

Lex paled, he could feel the blood rushing from his cheeks, as the memory of the horror of that moment came back to him. It was quickly followed, as always, by the memory of Jor-El’s pronouncement.

“Misscarriage,” Lex managed to hiss.

J’onn’s hand gently touched his, and Lex barely resisted flinching away. “I am sorry, Lex Luthor, for you loss.”

“It’s just… well, it was my loss.” A little corner of Lex’s mind wondered if J’onn had known it was possible, and why J’onn wasn’t asking how it was possible. Not that Lex knew the answers. Yet. “But we also found out Clark is pregnant. Twin girls. So we didn’t lose everything.”

While the stoic Martian face didn’t change, Lex could feel J’onn’s delight. “It is good to hear the line of El will continue.”

“It’s just….” Lex still couldn’t express the words, but he could feel himself projecting the emotions as J’onn had taught him to do, and not do.

“You are conflicted. It is to be expected in such circumstances. Your reaction is quite reasonable for your race and situation.”

“I need help,” Lex said through gritted teeth. “I need to be there for Clark, to be happy for our daughters. We’re getting married next month—“

“Congratulations.” J’onn was all but grinning, in his way. And Lex was oddly relieved. As much as the alien had been helping him all these months, he hadn’t really been sure if J’onn was okay with Clark and Lex being friends, let alone more. But the unrestrained joy he projected would be hard to fake.

“Thank you. We’re happy… I’m happy… most of the time.”

J’onn nodded. “We will work on reclaiming your equilibrium. Do you know how this pregnancy came to be?”

There was that question neither he nor Clark had a firm answer to. “Sex, presumably, but beyond that...?” He rattled off the details of what they did know: how the babies were carried, that it looked possible conception had occurred after Clark was in Israel, that they’d had sex once before. Somehow those details Lex could say without being uncomfortable. Which was a relief. 

“I am concerned that until you do know the exact mechanism, you will be unable to prevent a repeat of the occurrence.”

Lex’s stomach rolled over in a manner far too similar to how he’d been feeling while pregnant for comfort. 

“We will work hard to help you remain content with the joys you have received and only mourn within reason for those you have lost. In time we will solve all mysteries.” J’onn reached out and opened his mind to Lex as he did in training, and Lex let go his barriers with a feeling of relief.

~o0o~

Clark made sure he was in the entryway when Lois arrived on the elevator. The Secret Service had informed Lex she was on the way up just a moment ago, but given the expression on her face as she arrived, she’d been in the building a good bit longer than that.

“I’m so sorry. I should have escorted you up,” Clark said as she scowled at him. “I think Agent Miles is still upset about letting reporters near Lex.”

“Reporters?” Lois snapped. “Are you suggesting President Luthor didn’t set this up as revenge?”

“If Lex wanted revenge, you’d never have made it up here. Really, I’m sure this was just Agent Miles and his paranoia. He thought I’d developed a mental mutation and was manipulating Lex with it.”

Lois looked intrigued. She respected a mind that could jump to conclusions like that. Much to Clark’s dismay for many years.

“Come on, dinner should be ready soon,” Clark prompted. “Maybe you’d like a drink first? To unwind?” Lois wasn’t much of a drinker, but surely even she’d be tempted by Lex Luthor’s bar.

Except she stood firm. “Why am I here, Clark? What do you want to tell me that you couldn’t have just told me at the Planet?”

“The last time he tried, you dumped him in the river,” Lex drawled from the next room, sauntering through the doorway as Clark turned to look.

Lois deigned to look a little embarrassed. For a moment. Then she frowned. “You were talking about being….” She glared at him. “I’m not pregnant.”

“No, you’re not,” Clark assured her.

“He is,” Lex chirped.

Lois looked from Lex to Clark, to Lex, to Clark.

“Yes, Lois, he’s pregnant,” Conner called across the apartment, and Clark winced. Lex would have to bribe Mrs. Conroy again. “Yes, they’re Lex’s. I’m gonna have sisters. Now get in here so we can eat.”

~o0o~

Getting Lois into the dining room was more a matter of steering than anything else after Conner’s intervention. Fortunately, she permitted Conner to touch her after flinching away from everyone else, so they did get to enjoy Mrs. Conroy’s soufflé while it was fresh from the oven.

And Lex found the lack of accusations and questions was nice while it lasted.

“So are you going to make an honest man of him?” Lois finally demanded, glaring at Lex.

He raised an eyebrow and considered revenge options. He might not control White, but he could get her shipped to the ends of the Earth somehow, keep her away from Clark and the babies.

“We’re still setting the date, but I’m hoping for the beginning of next month,” Lex drawled after a good disdainful moment. 

“Not much time to organize a major wedding,” Lois said thoughtfully.

“I think they want to be official before Clark start’s showing,” Conner chimed in.

“If I start showing,” Clark countered, touching his stomach right where Lex knew there was only the faintest hint of a bump after four months.

“Who’d see anything in those awful suits?” Lois spat. Then shook her head. “I assume you have an explanation? Adoption or something?”

“I’m working on it,” Lex assured her. He hadn’t shared his ideas with Clark yet, still setting things up. He had no intention of sharing with Lois Lane.

“Hmm, two fathers and an older brother. You did say sisters, didn’t you?” Lois looked to Conner, who grinned at her just as he had last night when demanding to be ringbearer.

“Twin sisters,” Conner chirped.

“You’d better get some female influences in their lives,” Lois said.

“Well, I thought you might be interested in being Aunt Lois,” Clark said softly, shyly, and Lex had to smile at him. With Martha gone, the obvious choice was lost to them. Lois could be a horrible influence, but she was also a strong woman. No child of Lex would ever be weak, even if he never used his father’s tactics. There were worse role models than Lois.

Unfortunately.

Lois actually smiled softly at Clark, like had occasionally done during their marriage. “I’d be honored.” The softness vanished in an instant. “But no way am I taking custody at any point.”

“We asked Alfred,” Clark said, and that seemed to placate her.

“Ah, shit.” Conner stood from the table. “Sorry, Pops, Clark, Lois.” A moment later he was just a breeze toward the patio door.

Lex turned to Clark, who was concentrating on something. 

“What’s up, Smallville?” Lois said.

Clark sighed. “Mauna Loa erupted. Kon’s just going to make sure the lava flows don’t go anywhere vital.”

“Hawai’i,” Lois sighed.

Lex wondered if Clark used to fly Lois to the South Pacific for vacations. Maybe Lex should invest in a small private island they could flit off to from time to time. A place to escape the Secret service. That did sound nice.

Clark met Lex’s gaze, and Lex could feel the agreement. 

“Oh God, save the sappiness for when I go home.” Lois’ gripe snapped them both from falling deeper into telepathic communication.

“Sorry, Lois,” Clark said, eyes down and cheeks red.

Lex stiffened in his chair but refused to react otherwise. “You gave him up,” he muttered, just loud enough for Lois to hear and probably ignore.

But she didn’t. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you hurt him.”

“Lois,” Clark protested.

“Clark can take care of himself,” Lex said pointedly.

Lois snorted. “Physically, sure. But we both know his emotions have always been his weak spot.”

Clark growled and smacked his hand on the table. Fortunately, not hard enough to break anything. “Lois, behave. You’re a guest. Lex, be nice, please.” He stood and leaned over Lex to press a kiss to his cheek. “Lo'ihi’s acting up. Please both be alive and well when I get back.”

Lex didn’t let him do more than straighten before he stood and demanded a decent kiss, Lois be damned. Clark obliged with enough tongue to curl Lex’s toes nicely before vanishing out the door.

Lois stared at him as Lex sat back down. He looked back with a raised eyebrow.

“He never paused for more than a peck while we were married,” Lois finally said.

Lex snorted. That was her mistake. Along with letting Clark go. Lex was never making that mistake again.

“Surprised he bothered with you driving him off,” Lois added snootily.

“I didn’t drive him off,” Lex said dryly.

“We start arguing, he bolts? You drove him off.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, Lex chuckled. “Do you know what Liohi is?”

Lois opened her mouth, then paused, then shook her head.

“It’s the sea volcano off the south coast of Hawai’i. When she acts up, there can be everything from dramatic currents to tsunami’s, and Kal has long had an agreement with the US military to swing by and make sure Pearl Harbor is safe when Liohi acts up.”

“Oh….”

“Though he’ll probably stop by to help Kon after, maybe pick up another disaster on the way home.” Lex relaxed into his chair, or tried to. Damn those two for abandoning him to Lois in his own penthouse. He should have insisted on a restaurant. “That would be because we were arguing.” Well, worse came to worse, he’d just get Agent Miles to come and escort her from the building.

Lois frowned. “Perhaps I should go.”

“Amazing, you do have some social awareness.” Lex hadn’t meant to say that, but he was always surprised when Lois acted human, instead of like a pitbull.

“I don’t know what he sees in you.”

Lex chuckled. “Honestly, I could say the same to you.” He shook his head. “You might as well stay for dessert. Clark still had one more thing to tell you. He might make it back.”

Lois crossed her arms and glared.

“I believe he said it was your favorite. Flourless chocolate cake made with Guiness?”

Her arms dropped and Lois almost smiled. “Let’s be honest, he’s not going to make it back. If a fire in California doesn’t get his attention a robbery in Metropolis will. What else could he possibly want to bring up after telling me that you got him up in the duff.”

Lex struggled to squash a grin. He still couldn’t believe Clark wanted this, but it would make for some interesting wedding photos. “He wants you to be his best man.”

Lois blinked, her expression blank. “Not Conner? He was Clark’s best man at our wedding.”

“And Clark was mine a few times. Previous weddings don’t mean much. Besides, Conner’s determined to be ringbearer. Something about that being the proper position for the love child when his parents finally marry.”

A snort of laughter escaped Lois. Then another. Finally she gave in and covered her face in both hands as she collapsed into paroxysms of laughter.

Lex joined her, if a bit less violently. The whole situation was more than a little absurd.

“Only Clark….” Lois brushed her hair back from her face. “You do realize having him in your life means you’re doomed to insanity?”

Lex brushed a hand over the front of his pants, the movement mostly hidden under the table. “I’m afraid I was doomed long before Clark ever met you.”


	4. Perry White and Other Tidbits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little shorter, but I realized Perry needed to know before I tackled the next set of reveals. Now if I can just get Oliver to behave....

“Kent!”

Clark had been rather expecting that bellow sometime today. He saved his files, not that he’d been getting much work done, and walked over to Perry’s office. Lois shot him a dark look. She knew what this was about. And as much as she’d agreed to her small part, she still thought he was insane.

“What is this?” Perry bellowed the moment Clark crossed the office threshold. 

“Chief?” Clark replied blandly.

“Don’t call me chief,” Perry said. “Are you insane? No, don’t answer that. Close that door and sit.”

Clark did as ordered, and finally got a glimpse of the paper Perry had been waving so wildly. The wedding announcement Clark had emailed him earlier. Normally Clark would file such a thing with a department editor, but he wanted to give Perry the heads up. And Lex was definitely rubbing off on him because Clark couldn’t resist the surprise approach.

“Are you insane?”

“I think you already asked that,” Clark said, “and ordered me not to answer.”

“Not while the door was open. Luthor? Is this a joke?”

“No.” Clark relaxed back into the chair and watched Perry go redder, pale, and go red again.

“What is he holding over your head this time?”

“Nothing,” Clark said, making sure he sounded completely calm and confident, no mixed signals aloud. “Chief—“ Clark cut himself off when he saw Perry wince. This was not the time to tease. “Perry, really, I want this. I think I’ve loved him almost since we met. There’s nothing holding us back from that now.”

Perry gave him a suspicious look. “You said you were just friends.”

“And at the time we were. Nothing changed until after the divorce.” Which wasn’t quite the truth, but it was close enough. “I know this puts you in a bit of an odd position. I thought I could switch to OpEds for a bit, at least until the worst settles.”

“And how am I supposed to deal with the Secret Service taking over the building?”

Clark blushed at that and glanced at his lap. “Umm, you won’t have to. Or there’ll be a few, but nothing major….”

Perry crossed his arms and gave Clark a disbelieving look.

“Agent Miles… Lex’s head of security… he knows,” Clark stuttered out. “We’ve talked about what level of security I need, at least for show.” And hadn’t that been an awkward conversation. Clark could have lived without the apology for the grilling. 

“He knows?” Perry drawled.

“I might have forgotten to check for observers coming in for a landing a few weeks back,” Clark admitted. “And he was wondering why Lex wasn’t responding. But it’s okay. He’s promised to protect our secrets.”

“Clark.” Perry shook his head, looking very disappointed.

“Perry, it would have come out….” Clark took a deep breath. “We would have had to tell him the truth when the twins were born.”

Perry looked confused. “Twins?”

Clark cupped the slight bump forming under his ribs. “Perry, I’m going to marry Lex because I’m not going to keep his children from him.”

This time Perry turned a little green, but he got it under control fairly quickly. “I wasn’t aware Kryptonians could….” He blinked, clearly at a loss for words.

“The um… changes, the ones that drove Lois to divorce me…?”

Perry nodded, frowning a little.

“It is a Kryptonian thing, very rare, that somehow includes the ability to conceive. We’re still figuring it all out.”

“And you’re sure Lex isn’t using you for this?” Perry waved a hand in the air at nothing specifically.

“We didn’t know….” Clark considered a moment and decided to be a little clearer. “Perry, this is off the record. Old friend to old friend.”

Perry frowned, but nodded.

“Lex underwent the same change. We found out about me because he had a miscarriage.”

Clark let Perry process that, and after a few more color changes, he settled on a sad expression and a slow nod.

“Alright. That’s the way it is, that’s the way it is.” Perry let out a deep breath, then glared. “Damn it, Kent, at least with you I thought I was safe from having to provide paternity leave.”

“Sorry, Chief.” Clark grinned, confident that now all would be well. “And I’m afraid I have no promises it won’t happen again.”

Perry growled. “You’d better find a way to keep it spaced out. This paper is not going to support an unproductive reporter.

“Yes, Chief.”

“You need time for a honeymoon?” Perry put the paper he’d been waving around earlier into the pile for ‘to be formatted.’

“We’d like two days after, but that’s it.” Clark chuckled. “Lex doesn’t want to leave the company alone longer than that. He’s convinced he’s still fixing damage from eight years away as President.”

Perry let out a snort. “Right. And Lois’ assault on historical LuthorCorp isn’t a concern. Well, get back to work, Kent. I expect some exemplary work to make up for losing you in…?”

“Four and a half months, give or take.”

“And helping Lois with her Lionel series doesn’t count.”

“Yes, Chief.”

~o0o~

Lois gave a pointed look as Clark reclaimed his seat.

“Wedding announcement,” Clark said softly.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You are a mess,” she said, pointing a manicured nail at him.

Clark just grinned. “I need lots of good copy the next few months.”

“I think I’ve found a connection between Petrovich and Lionel’s super soldier program.”

“Really?” Clark jerked in surprise before coming around to look over Lois’ shoulder. “That’s a point of connection I’d never have expected.”

“Actually, I found it because Conner asked me if there was anything here on….” Lois glanced around and continued at a low hiss. “The cloning program.”

Clark frowned. “I would have thought Lex would have mined for anything on that years ago.”

“You’d think, given how buddy buddy they are, but Conner asked.” Lois pointed at her screen. “And this might just get me permission to tackle some of that Top Secret material.”

“Hmm, not until you can find another way to know about the super soldier program.” Clark stole her mouse and flipped through the records she found. “Maybe it’s time to ask Petrovich just what he thought he was doing collecting DNA samples from the student population.


	5. The JLA

“You wished to speak to me, Superman?”

Clark waved Wonder Woman into his office on the JLA space station with a welcoming smile. He hadn’t been sure she’d be able to make it so early in the afternoon, but Lex had been firm that he should be off planet as much of the day as possible. Given the flash of pain earlier, Clark had an idea of why. But Lex was okay over all, he could feel that much, so he was staying put until Lex called. “Yes, Diana. Thank you for coming by.”

She nodded, her expression shifting at the informality of his address, before settling into the available seat with her usual grace. If there’d been space, Clark would have sat beside her rather than behind his desk, but space was at a premium in the station despite Oliver’s best efforts in the design.

“Diana… I need your assistance in the weeks to come.”

Her lips pursed.

“You saw the wedding announcement this morning.” Clark had gotten that expression at work a lot since word of the announcement had hit the floor last night. At least Perry was treating him normally now that they’d talked it out. The others at the Planet just weren’t used to Clark doing strange things. Disappearing sure, but other than that, Clark was boring.

“I admit I am… concerned, Kal. It is not long since the dissolution of your marriage to Lois.”

Clark nodded. “Will you listen to my explanation?”

Diana nodded. She looked stern, but still had a hint of openness that gave him hope.

So Clark explained about the telepathic abilities of the Uchahvia and bringing J’onn in for training. He described the time he had spent with Lex, both socially and mentally. Slowly, her expression lightened.

“J’onn can back you on your assessment of President Luthor’s change of heart?” Diana asked.

“Yes,” Clark said firmly. He had not discussed it directly with J’onn, but he had every confidence that there were no more lies between himself and Lex. A few secrets, but no lies.

“Then I concede that your relationship with President Luthor is potentially healthy. Still, perhaps it would have been wise to wait a little longer before presenting the change in your relationship to the world?”

Clark let his hand rest over the expanding hard spot under his skin. He wasn’t really showing yet, even in the skintight suit, but he was confident he would before the twins were born. “I will not prevent Lex from having legal standing with our children.”

Diana’s eyes widened. “What are you…?”

“I’m carrying twins, almost eighteen weeks.”

“I never knew that was possible.”

“It wasn’t. Not before.”

“How will you explain…?”

Clark shrugged. “Lex has a plan.” So far Lex hadn’t wanted to share, and Clark was willing to let Lex handle it. Perhaps it was a trust exercise. Perhaps it was just that Clark wasn’t concerned. Lex certainly had good access to forge paperwork. Clark would have to go through the JLA, and he didn’t want to.

He didn’t trust Chloe with his daughters.

Diana frowned, but nodded. “So, this is a Kryptonian thing?”

“A Uchahvia thing. Lex…” Clark winced, closing his mouth on the words.

“His illness?” She cocked her head, visibly considering.

“His miscarriage,” Clark whispered.

Her hand came up to cover her open mouth. “Oh, Kal…. Such a loss even at such a time of joy.”

“J’onn’s helping him, now that he’s getting closer to ready. We don’t know how exactly it happened, so it could happen again any time.”

“He cannot carry to term?”

“His mutation—“

The door snapped open on a blur of red. Designed to try and handle Clark’s and Bart’s speed, it tended to rattle the wall as it snapped open.

“Kal, you’d better come. Cyborg is mouthing off hard about Luthor,” Bart snapped out, almost too fast to understand, and vanished in another blur.

Clark had hoped to make Diana his supporter today, but hadn’t intended to deal with anyone else. It seemed his choices had been taken from him.

“Go, I will follow,” Diana said, but Clark offered her his arm and walked at human normal speed through the hallways. He refused to appear panicked about this.

When they arrived in the main common area, a lot of the JLA members were gathered around Cyborg.

“He’s a danger to us all,” Cyborg snapped. “We can’t let him lay claim to ‘Earth’s greatest superhero.’”

The quotes on that phrase made Clark’s vision shade red. Cyborg’s derision of Lex was understandable, though Ii had always been a bit of a barrier between him and Clark. However, Cyborg had never turned that derision on Clark.

“He’s doing no such thing,” Clark said flatly as he stepped up to the crowd. When they turned to him, he added, “He’s marrying Clark Kent, a nobody reporter.”

Some nodded, seeming less than impressed with Cyborg’s ranting, but others seemed distrustful.

“Why? Why would you do this?” Cyborg said, stepping into Clark’s space. “You put us all at risk.”

“You do not trust President Luthor?” Diana cut in, stepping up to Cyborg before Clark could reply.

“Have you seen what he did to me?” Cyborg bellowed, tapping his human hand against the metal arm.

“I agree you have reason for distress, but President Luthor has changed. Kal-El assures me of this, and J’onn Jonzz backs him.”

“I don’t give a fuck if he’s changed. I want him dead.”

Clark jerked back as a fist swung toward his belly. He caught Cyborg’s hand in a firm grip and tried not to leave dents. Mostly. “You will stay away from Lex Luthor,” he growled.

“I advise you listen,” Diana said, catching Clark’s wrist and hinting he should let go.

“Will you all back this?” Cyborg said, his voice pitched to carry far and wide. “That bastard is manipulating Superman. He’s destroying Green Arrow. Did you hear what happened?”

“Green Arrow destroyed himself,” Clark spat. He didn’t know what Lex had planned for today, but he knew Lex wanted Oliver out of the way before the wedding. And Clark didn’t care. He released Cyborg, but not before pushing him away. “Let me make this very clear. I will not allow you anywhere near Lex Luthor. If any of you—any of you!—becomes a threat to my family, I will remove the threat.”

Even Cyborg’s eyes went wide. No one made a sound, leaving Clark’s last words to echo through the room.

Finally, Diana spoke. “I advise you all to heed the warning. Amazons long ago learned not to upset an expectant mother.”

Silence echoed again, until Bart whooped and rushed to Clark in a red blur. “Mother? You’re carrying a kid?”

Clark managed a small smile at Bart’s apparent delight. “Twins.” He touched his stomach, just below where Cyborg had been aiming, and watched Cyborg’s eyes widen.

“They’re Luthor’s?”

“They are,” Diana said. “Perhaps you all can understand why Kal, as the last of his race, would wish to protect his family.”

A few more nods spread at that. People were starting to think. Or Clark hoped. He was still rather angry and didn’t care much, though.

J’onn startled Clark when he wandered into the room. “President Luthor sensed your distress,” J’onn said. “I will explain to our associates. I suggest you reassure your mate of your survival at our hands. He is at Met General.”

Clark left in a whirlwind. Screw them all. Lex was far more important.

~o0o~

Lex sat at the conference table, his hands steepled under his chin. He’d been working hard since Clark snapped him back to reality to bring this day together. Finally, Oliver Queen sat across from him, looking all the more confident for Lex’s failure to push since the miscarriage.

Idiot.

For now, they were both content to let the lawyers banter and posture. No progress was made on either side, primarily because both Lex and Oliver believed themselves in the right. Obviously Oliver was wrong, but it would take something more than posturing lawyers to prove it.

When someone suggested a lunch break, Lex leaned back in his chair, looking firm and resolved. “Perhaps while you eat, Mr. Queen and I could speak privately. Maybe we could work some of this out.”

“Mr. President, are you sure?” one of the FBI stooges asked, but there was a twinkle in his eye that Lex found promising.

“We’ll be fine,” Oliver drawled.

While everyone looked uncertain, they did file out, leaving Lex and Oliver opposite each other and alone.

Well, mostly alone, Lex was certain at least one member of the Secret Service was right outside the door and maybe that FBI lackey was with him. Lex was actually surprised he’d managed to get all the Secret Service out of the room. Miles must suspect something.

“I’m going to beat your lies and sue you for every penny you’re worth,” Oliver began.

Lex raised an eyebrow. “Lies? You’re wife bribed a member of the Secret Service to bug my home and office. You used information from those bugs to underbid LuthorCorp and win lucrative contracts.”

“There’s no proof I didn’t just get lucky.”

“Ten times? In a six month period?” Lex snorted. “You’re not that good.”

Oliver smirked, confident and cocky. His left hand rubbed along his left thigh, visible as he leaned back and slouched in his chair. “You have no idea how good I am.”

“That is one detail I’ve no desire to find out.” Lex leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on the table. “And I doubt you’ve any desire to show… me.” He drew the last words out, watching the light in Oliver’s eyes flash out and the look of disgust take over his expression. “Your loss.”

“I doubt that. When I’m done, you’ll be the one locked up, and even the worst prison john won’t want anything to do with you.”

Lex tapped his upper lip with his index finger, feeling the old, familiar scar with each tap. “Hmmm. An interesting image. Irrelevant though. By the end of the week, you’ll be in prison, and in two weeks I’ll be married to Clark.”

Oliver went a bit red around the edges and Lex hid the smirk that wanted to come out. Bullies often suffered from temper issues, and Lex had mapped out Oliver’s buttons years ago.

“I assumed you’d seen the announcement this morning. I hope you’ll understand why you and Chloe aren’t invited. Such a pity, since she’s one of Clark’s oldest friends.”

“You monster. I won’t let you besmirch him.”

Lex let out a bark of laughter. Oliver had fed him a perfect line at the perfect time. “Besmirch? Really? With what, my horrible mutated body? My criminal mastermind mind?”

“You’re a monster, spawned by a monster, mutated by further monsters,” Oliver spat.

It hurt a little, but Lex didn’t dare let any of that get to him or slow him down. He’d known exactly what Oliver thought of him since he was nine. “I’ll admit the spawned. My father was an impressive piece of work. But the rest? I’m no more monstrous than Clark.”

Oliver’s cheeks hit a rosy red and his lips formed a pinched line. “I don’t know how you did it to him, but once you’re taken care of I’ll help find him a cure.”

Lex felt his brow furrow a little, and let it happen. “And he’ll turn to you?”

“He did before.” Oliver blinked, clearly not having meant to say that.

 _Excellent, he’s losing control already._ “He did, didn’t he. And yet, you never caught him, not the way you wanted. “Lex watched Oliver’s eyes flash with rage and thwarted lust. “Did you finally settle for Chloe when you saw you had lost out to Lois Lane?” Though not until after he’d had Lane. Oliver really was a piece of work.

Oliver’s mouth gapped, but only strangled sounds came out.

“You never had him.” Time for the coup d’état. “He was mine from the start. We met the day he arrived in Smallville. Did you know that?”

It was clear that Oliver had not, and a warmth filled Lex. Clark had held that truth sacred.

“He was mine from that day, whatever else happened. The fights only delayed the inevitable. You were a distraction, nothing more.”

The chair toppled over when Oliver launched himself to his feet. But he paused, fists on the table, leaning toward Lex. Refusing to be cowed, or stop, Lex leaned back and looked up, his expression one of supreme confidence. He’d practiced it in the mirror just that morning. Though it was well practiced. He’d used it to manage fractious heads of state as well.

“And now, even if you were to kill me, you’d never win him back. I didn’t do anything to him. He changed as his species should.” Lex slid a hand along one thigh, an action that could express nervousness, but really brought Oliver’s eyes to the slightly twitching bulge in Lex’s pants. Red cheeks gained a green tinge. That didn’t look healthy. “And he took me along for the ride. This is his fault. And I love him for it.”

 

Interesting. Oliver looked disgusted and disbelieving than Lex expected. In fact, he looked oddly heartbroken. Lex filed it away for later analysis and continued.

“When you’re safely locked away, Oliver, it will be me and Clark, as it always should have been.” Lex smiled and slid a sheet from the folder on the table, pushing it toward Oliver as Lex leaned in. “Me, Clark, and our children.”

Oliver looked at the sheet for only a moment, barely long enough to possibly process the ultrasound like image of fetuses cuddled up together, heads touching, before launching himself across the table and slamming a fist into Lex’s cheek.

“You bastard!” 

The scream was followed by the door crashing open even as another fist went for Lex’s face. 

“How could you do that to him?”

Lex let the second fist hit as well, doing nothing to protect himself until Agent Dokes dragged Oliver off him. The evidence had to completely point at Oliver’s actions and show Lex as the victim. The only thing Lex did was trigger a self-destruct on the image of the twins before anyone else could notice it. A moment later it was nothing but a blank sheet of paper.

“Mr. President, are you okay?” Agent Miles asked as he came through the doorway, rushing to Lex’s side.

“Fine, fine,” Lex insisted, standing up with Miles’ help from where Oliver’s punches had thrown him to the floor. A hand on his chin forced him to stop.

“Definite facial bruising,” Miles said, studying Lex’s face. The damage was bad enough it would swell for an hour or two before fading abnormally fast, just as Lex had hoped.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Agent Dokes called across the room. “He got a boot in at the end.”

“Better get to the hospital, then.” Agent Miles pulled his walkie talkie from his belt. “Clear to MetGen,” he ordered. 

A hand under Lex’s arm turned to an arm around his waist as he realized there was at least one cracked rib to contend with. Damn, Oliver might be a mindless thug but he sure knew where to hit. If he’d gotten to Clark the twins might have been at risk. While Clark was invulnerable, nominally, Lex was not risking finding out the twins weren’t. He’d have to talk to Clark about cutting back the rescures. Though now that he thought about it, Clark had been, leaving the robberies and possible kryptonite exposure to Kon.

“Sir?” 

Miles’ question drew Lex from his mulling. “Yes, Agent Miles?” The hospital was a given. Even if Lex would have protested normally, he wanted every injury recorded in triplicate.

“Will you be pressing charges?”

Lex grinned, viciously, triumphantly. “Yes. Assault at least. If you can turn it into attempted murder….”

“I’ll make sure he never gets within five hundred feet of you again, sir. He can watch his trial on closed circuit tv.”

It was a very good thing Lex hadn’t had to kill Miles.

“You bastard! I’ll get you for this! Clark will see you for what you are someday!”

Lex turned to where Oliver was still struggling under three eager FBI agents.

“Should we have him gagged, sir?” Miles asked.

“Oh no,” Lex said. “Make sure the lawyers listen to every word. Worse comes to worse, he’ll end up in a psych ward. Not as good as prison, but it’d do. And remind me to talk to the lawyers about a libel suit.”

“Yes, sir.” Miles tugged him toward the door. Lex’s legs were already more sturdy under him. “Best go before you start healing, sir.”

Very good thing he hadn’t had to kill Miles.

~o0o~

Lex might not have recognized the face of the man who stepped into his hospital room, but he knew in an instant it was the Martian Manhunter. He hadn’t realized his telepathy was that active, but Lex recognized the mind even before he took in the face.

“Detective John Jones,” the dark skinned man said to yet another layer of security, this round guarding the hospital bed itself. “Mr. President, I’m here to collect any evidence of the reported attack?”

Lex leaned back and just waved at the nurse who had secured the various medical test results and photos of his bruises and broken bones. Another damned concussion. Good thing Lex healed well, brain included.

 _”Any chance you can check on Clark?”_ Lex sent telepathically, watching carefully to see if J’onn reacted.

He didn’t. Physically he showed no signs of doing anything but accepting the documentation, signing off with an experienced air. _”I have to drop these at the precinct, but I could send him a message….”_

 _“He went to the satellite earlier.”_ Or at least he’d promised to. He’d wanted to talk to Wonder Woman. But Lex doubted she’d upset him so much, and he was getting a definite feeling that Clark was rapidly approaching a roiling boil. If it was making Lex twitchy, Clark might burn a hole in the JLA satellite soon. _”Something is upsetting him.”_

“I’m sorry for your experience, Mr. President,” J’onn said. “I’ll get these filed right away so your lawyers can reference them in any legal proceedings.” He actually looked a little pleased to be setting up Oliver, which was just weird because his face never matched his emotions, not in his natural form. _”And then I will check on Kal-El for you. It is likely some of Oliver’s supporters are stirring up trouble.”_

~o0o~

Hospital security and the Secret Service alike scattered out of his way as Clark strode through the halls of Metropolis General. He didn’t know who warned them he was coming, but he appreciated not being stopped every five seconds. And there were enough layers of security that it would have taken forever.

Instead, Clark was soon with Agent Miles outside the hospital room everyone claimed Lex was within.

“What happened?” Clark asked Lex’s head of security.

“He asked to speak with Mr. Queen privately, to try and work through the situation….” He trailed off as Clark glared at him pointedly. A wry wince crossed his face. “I had agents right outside the door, they responded immediately.”

“If they responded immediately, why is Lex in the hospital?” Clark snapped. He then took a deep breath and tried to stuff his temper back down. Cyborg had left him all riled up, but he shouldn’t take it out on Agent Miles.

“Honestly, you do know the man you’re planning to marry?” Agent Miles asked dryly. “Oliver Queen will be going away for assault, possibly attempted murder.” He didn’t need to come out and say that he knew that was exactly what Lex had intended. They both knew it.

Clark sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Just… can I see him?”

“Just be gentle with the hugs until his ribs heal,” Agent Miles said, gesturing to the door.

The idea that Lex was injured enough to have cracked ribs, or worse, made Clark’s blood boil. Damn Oliver.

“Clark?” Lex’s relieved tone was a balm to Clark’s soul. A small balm, but he’d take it.

“Lex.” The man looked a little wan in his hospital bed, his face a mottle of yellow and purple, a black eye already starting to fade. “Did you have to provoke him?”

One of the agents in the room snickered and his companion elbowed him in the ribs. Clark ignored them both and sat on the bed by Lex’s knee.

“It didn’t take much,” Lex said in an undertone. “How did I never realize how obsessed he is with you?” He took Clark’s hand, caressing each knuckle with lithe fingers.

“With me? How about with you?” Clark had realized during their last JLA meeting, while Oliver was obsessing over the danger of that Luthor, that part of the problem was some kind of repressed, twisted lust. It almost made him sick. And wonder just how long that obsession had been building. They’d known each other since they were boys.

Lex looked confused, so Clark decided to save it for later. Oliver didn’t matter anymore.

“When will they let you out of here?”

“Soon,” Lex said with a shrug. “I only stayed this long to look more dramatic to the media.”

Clark snorted. “I had wondered. Usually you avoid the hospital, cracked ribs or not.” He raised Lex’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, tickling the webs between his fingers with his tongue. Why did the idea that Lex let Oliver hit him to protect Clark turn Clark on?

Lex licked his lips, eyes alight in a moment. “I’m feeling much better.”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Looks like Oliver got your pretty good.” Cracked ribs were still visible, and at least one might have been broken a few hours ago. There were definite signs of swelling in Lex’s brain that was going down rapidly but had been a full blown concussion not long ago. And under the dressing gown, Clark could see bruises all over in various stages of healing. Thank God, the bruises stopped below Lex’s stomach. Everything there looked in good health, and just a bit… twitchy. “Maybe we should just get you home and tuck you into bed.”

“Bed sounds good,” Lex purred.

“You need to be careful until you finish healing,” Clark continued, trying to tell his tentacles to settle down before someone noticed. Lex’s voice was in pure sex mode, and it drove Clark crazy. “Rest and recover.”

“I promise to let you do all the work.”

Clark swallowed hard, considering the options. “Somebody call the damned doctor,” he growled over his shoulder.


	6. Interlude and Old Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one did not want to write though I knew this was what was needed. I apologize if this is not by best sex scene. Maybe someday i'll come back and redo it. for now, I want it out of the way so I can move on to some other scenes that appeal more.

Clark waited for the security team—who had done a very, very thorough sweep for anything and everything though he could have told them the penthouse was secure—to leave before sweeping Lex up in his arms.

“Hey, I can walk,” Lex protested.

“Let me,” Clark pleaded, walking smoothly toward the bedroom. He knew Lex was okay, had seen the medical reports, the x-rays, but he needed to prove it to himself and inch at a time.

Maybe it was an Uchahvia thing.

“I’m going to strip you down and touch every inch of you,” Clark said, wishing he could sound like liquid sex the way Lex did. But it had the effect he wanted. Lex slipped an arm around Clark’s neck and started playing with the hair at the base of his neck.

“Every inch?” Lex purred, and Clark felt his tentacles start opening his pants for him at the sound.

“Oh yeah.” Only a sixth sense for solid objects around him, necessary when flying, saved Clark from hitting several walls on the way to the bedroom. His eyes were locked with Lex’s.

Once in the bedroom, Clark lay Lex on the bed. Slowly, carefully, he pulled off every article of clothing, starting with Lex’s thousand dollar shoes and ending with his hundred dollar silk boxers. Clothing gone, it was harder to ignore the yellowing bruises covering Lex from crown to belly. They were fainter than when Clark had seen them through Lex’s hospital gown, but somehow seeing them with normal vision made them seem all the worse.

“I’m okay, Clark,” Lex said, holding his hands out. “Come here.”

Clark used superspeed to shed his clothes before sliding onto the bed. He let his abilities hold him just off the mattress, unwilling to jostle his lover.

“Get down here and touch me,” Lex growled. Was it wrong that that tone, so often used when offering threats on rooftops, turned Clark on so much?

Obeying, Clark shifted over Lex and hovering just above him, letting his fingers trace over Lex’s face, his tentacles trace over Lex’s hips.

“I’m okay,” Lex whispered into Clark’s fingertips.

“I know,” Clark said, pressing a kiss to Lex’s forehead. “I just—” He pressed a kiss to Lex’s left eyelid. “—need to see—” He kissed lightly across the bruising around Lex’s right eye. “—for myself.” He finished with a kiss to Lex’s lips.

 

Lex took over, wrapping his hands around Clark’s head and holding him tight, deepening the kiss and mapping every inch of Clark’s mouth. Clark liked that idea, and reversed the action, exploring every inch of Lex’s mouth, making sure every tooth and corner was safe and solid.

Clark was very good at multitasking. As they kissed, he trailed his fingers over the top of Lex’s head and down the sides, sensing old fractures and remains of bruises. He caressed Lex’s neck, feeling the strain in tendons and the tension in muscles. Nudging and tickling, he caressed out some of that tension until Lex melted into the bed. Then he continued downward, fingers covering every inch and studying every bruise and fracture. His lips followed, hitting every sensitive spot until Lex was gasping and writhing with pleasure.

“Fuck, Clark….” Lex protested as Clark bypassed his madly wriggling tentacles and trailed down both legs. No bruises there, but a few sore muscles, quickly recovering. “If you don’t—“

They both froze a moment as Clark’s tentacles got tangled around Lex’s foot and refused to let go.

Lex was the first to giggle, but soon they were both roaring with laughter.

“I don’t think… they want…,” Lex gasped out.

Clark growled softly through his amusement and slid back up Lex. This time his wayward bits let go and trailed up Lex’s leg. “Can’t blame them,” he said, wrapping his arms around his love and rolling them. With Lex on top, Clark tangled his arms and legs around him even as his tentacles tangled themselves with Lex’s. “I never want to let you go either.”

Lex dove into a kiss and all thoughts of laughter were forgotten. There was only the kiss and the feel of Lex pressed against him and the pleasure rolling through them both until they went limp with it.

Eventually, Lex raised his head and looked down at Clark. “Damn, I didn’t think it could get any better than it was.”

Clark smirked. It was true. That had been amazing. And the tickle as Lex’s tentacles trailed across Clark’s belly was only just revving him up again.

“But I had rather hoped you’d fuck me.”

Sighing, Clark tugged Lex’s head down gently until he could press a kiss to his forehead. “I will never ‘fuck’ you, Lex.”

Before Lex could squawk and protest, Clark pulled him down for a kiss, his hand trailing down Lex’s back to cup one globe of his delectable butt. “But I will make love to you any time you want.”

“Now?” Lex growled.

Clark lifted Lex, turning him to sit on Clark’s hips. One tentacle slid up, probing at Lex, and slid right in, slick with the mix of their releases. “Hmm, I think I can do that.”

“More.”

Clark let his tentacles do their own thing and focused on trailing his hands across Lex’s torso. The bruises were even more faded, almost gone in most places. “Hmm, maybe we should try sex as a restorative.”

Lex looked down, puzzled, and pressed against several bruises with his fingertips. “Huh. That is faster than usual.” Switching his focus, his gray eyes bored into Clark. “Maybe another orgasm and I’ll be all healed.”

Trailing a hand across Lex’s groin, Clark felt several tentacles tangle with his fingers, but the rest had retreated in. “Might take a few with you in full retreat.”

“Don’t you dare—“ Lex broke of his tirade as Clark slid the rest of his tentacles in and urged them to spread.

“Full enough?” Clark teased.

“Not by half.”

~o0o~

_Over the last few months, this paper has managed to uncover a number of unsavory and illegal activities performed by the late Lionel Luthor, and it is my misfortune to report yet another. Documentation has been discovered showing a link between Lionel Luthor, Robert and Laura Queen, and a secret society called Veritas._

Veritas is reputed to have been seeking evidence of aliens on Earth, a quest that was perhaps proven not so mad with the appearance of Superman amongst us. However, it cannot be denied that Lionel Luthor was obsessed with aliens and we have evidence he was involved with the death of the Queens in an attempt to take over Veritas.

Clark stopped reading there, unable to stomach any more of Lois’s muddled prose. “Lex…?”

Lex looked up from the business section. “Yes?”

“Lois…. Did you see…?” Clark didn’t know what to say, especially after what happened with Oliver yesterday. So he handed Lex the paper.

“Oh, great, it did come out today,” he said only a moment later.

“What? You knew about this?” Clark expected a complete freak out.

“You don’t?” Lex set down the paper and looked concerned. “I would have thought Lois….” He paused a moment and sighed. “Ah.”

“Ah?” Clark was still concerned, but less so since Lex didn’t seem surprised.

“Lois has to get articles on my father approved by you, but since I approved this one, she must have assumed she could bypass you.”

“You approved this… dreck?” Clark really, really wanted to take a red pen to it. And he’d have words with Perry for letting it go to press like this. “Now?”

“Well,” Lex drawled, “the timing did seem perfect.”

“Perfect?” Clark asked, but he was now thinking. “You asked her to write this.”

Lex just smiled.

Of course he did. And now, when Oliver just attacked him, the article on that on the same cover as the one about the death of Oliver’s parents. Which instantly implied a connection between the two. The son avenging the parents on the other son.

“You’ve ruined him in the court of public opinion.”

“I hope so,” Lex said, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. “Still, I’m sorry Lois didn’t run this one past you.”

“Yeah… a bit purple.”

“Is she always like that before you revise?”

Clark shook his head. “Only with stuff she’s particularly emotional about. And Oliver’s an ex…. You should have seen the article on his military contract with General Lane before I go ahold of it.” He shuddered. “Perry should know better.”

“It would be nice if it were a little snappier.” Lex glared at the paper, but shrugged a moment later. “Oh well, it’ll do what it’s meant it or it won’t.” He glanced at his watch. “I should go meet with my lawyers about yesterday.”

A burst of speed got Clark to Lex’s side before he could stand, and he pinned the smaller man in his chair with hands on his shoulders. “Finish breakfast first.”

“Clark, I’m fine. Besides, you left plenty on your plate.”

“I’m eating ten times a day to make room, but Mrs. Conroy refuses to drop my serving size,” Clark countered. He pressed a kiss to Lex’s bald skin. “You, on the other hand, barely eat two times a day.”

“I should have talked with my lawyers yesterday.”

Clark snorted. As if. They probably had contingencies for this planned weeks ago, with or without Lex’s urging. “Finish your breakfast. If they waited this long, they can wait another ten minutes.”

Lex huffed. “Two more bites.” He forked up a small portion of egg and moved it to his mouth.

“All of it,” Clark said, leaning in to Lex’s ear. “Or I drag you back to bed and hand feed you.”

That did it. Lex shivered under Clark’s hands and he could smell the arousal rolling off him. Apparently, three times last night was not enough.

Clark scooped Lex up under one arm and grabbed the breakfast plate with the other hand.

“Hey,” Lex protested. “This is far from dignified.” But his hand planted itself over Clark’s groin and squeezed pleasantly.

“I’ll call your office and tell that sweet secretary of yours you’ll be a little late,” Mrs. Conroy called from the kitchen.

“Clark, put me down. Good god.” The protests lasted until they entered the bedroom. “I owe that woman another raise.”

“I’m sure you already pay her an outrageous amount.” Clark dropped Lex onto the bed and turned to put the plate on the bedside table.

“Only because of you and that absurd son of yours. Always flying in an out, calling me names, showing off.” Lex continued to rant as he slid off the bed and onto his knees before Clark.

Clark leaned down to pull Lex back onto the bed. “Hey, breakfast.”

Lex just undid Clark’s belt and pulled open his pants. “And I’m having you first.”


	7. The Wedding

_What may well be the wedding of the century is happening in Smallville, Kansas tomorrow. The gay marriage of President Lex Luthor and Clark Kent. Why would Lex Luthor, arguably one of the most popular and effective presidents the US has ever seen, consider such a nowheresville location for his wedding? I asked the same thing of President Lex Luthor’s PR crew, and got an answer I never expected._

_They met there._

_Clark Kent, long time reporter for the Daily Planet and recently divorced husband of reporting partner Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor, former President of the United States, met in Smallville during the first meteor shower there back in 1989. While Mr. Kent was a precocious three-year-old and President Luthor an asthmatic nine, they’ve both taken that meeting as some kind of sign._

_It doesn’t hurt that Mr. Kent saved President Luthor’s life the next time they met, after an accident sent the President’s car into the nearby river._

~o0o~

“What are you doing hiding up here, Lex?” Clark had been searching the mansion for twenty minutes, without using his powers. Because Lex had asked him not to. Honestly, he should have checked Lex’s old office first instead of waiting so long.

“Clark….” Lex’s voice sounded just as he had when Clark used to come over after school and interrupt work. A little frustrated, a little pleased, and a lot something Clark couldn’t identify back then. Now Clark heard lust, desire, love, hope. “It’s good to see you. How was school?”

Clark cocked his head and considered. That could explain why Lex had suggested a flannel shirt today. Hmm, this could be an opportunity to play out some old fantasies. They had the house to themselves for a few hours, give or take the Secret Service skulking around the fringes of the property.

“Good.” Clark licked his lips and slunk a little further into the room. “I don’t want to interrupt. If you’re doing something important, I could come back another time.”

“No, no, I was just finishing.” Lex set down his tablet. It wasn’t quite the same as the way he used to close his laptop, but his expression was the same. “Maybe some pool?”

“Only if I can fuck you over it,” Clark muttered under his breath. “Sounds great.” He was much better at judging his strength and the physics of moving objects than he used to be.

They started playing, and Clark figured he had this in the hole until one of his shots ended up inside the mantle. “Lex,” he squealed. The little shit had goosed him. “You never used to….”

“I wanted to,” Lex purred, slinking up, and Clark felt sixteen again, faced with a friend he didn’t understand what he wanted of. “I wanted to so many, many times.”

“I’m sorry.” Clark cupped Lex’s cheeks in his hands. “I didn’t understand.”

“I know.” Lex popped up on his toes and kissed Clark, but before Clark could deepen it, Lex pulled back. “Hmm, I’m not sure how to finish with the six embedded in the mantle. Do you think you could pull it out?”

Clark studied the ball and wood around it with every level of vision he had. “Umm, no. It’s kind of… cracked. And I think I’d ruin the whole mantle frame getting it back out.”

“Pity,” Lex purred from behind Clark. “Guess we’ll just have to skip to the next part of my plan.”

“Next part…?” Clark didn’t get any more out. Lex plastered himself to Clark’s back, hands already working on Clark’s belt.

“I’m going to fuck you over the pool table.”

Not quite Clark’s fantasy, but it would do.

~o0o~

“Lois, you look beautiful.” She really did. The beauty salon in Smallville might not be on the level of Metropolis, but they’d set her hair perfectly, and the deep blue of her dress was perfect with her skin and hair. The matching sapphires Lex insisted in buying her didn’t hurt either.

“So do you,” she replied, circling Clark. He knew what she saw. A tux that was much more tightly tailored than he’d usually go near, the black trimmed in blue that matched her dress. In fact, it was from the same bolt of fabic. “I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever seen you look happier.”

“Lois….” She looked sad for a moment, and that hurt. He remembered being so happy at their wedding, in the years after.

“It’s probably the pregnancy glow,” she decided, with a wicked grin.

“Lois,” he protested, then laughed. The jacket was a touch tighter than expected because he was starting to show a bit at six months. He still couldn’t imagine where the two babies were fitting themselves, but he was going to have to turn over Superman to Conner full time from here on or out himself. Spandex hid nothing.

“You sure about this, Smallville? Really sure?” Lois caught his hands and looked up at him earnestly. “Cause I can break us out of here if you change your mind.”

“I’m sure, Lois. Really sure.” He raised her hands and pressed a kiss to each back.

She sighed. “Yeah, you are.” She shook her head, her dark curls bouncing about her ears. “Alright, let’s do this. But he better treat you right.”

“He will.” Conner spoke from the doorway, his own tux a perfect match for Clark’s. “Or he’ll answer to me.”

“Conner,” Clark protested. He knew they meant well, but….

“Don’t worry, Dad, we just want the best for you.” Conner hadn’t been doing it long, calling Clark ‘Dad,’ but it sent a jolt through him every time. “Come on, let’s get you married before those sisters of mine make an appearance.”

Clark laughed and offered Lois his arm.

~o0o 

Weddings had always been tense affairs for Lex. Even high on Desiree’s pheromones, Lex had been tense all though. And yet, this time, from the moment Clark came into view, Lex felt like he was walking on clouds.

He looked exquisite in his tux, elegant with Lois on his arm. Lex’s heart sank for a moment, until Clark lit up when he spotted Lex. Their hands met and nothing seemed to matter. 

Lex wanted a civil ceremony, but Clark had hoped against hope to be married by the pastor he’d grown up with in Smallville. And miraculously, he’d agreed.

Standing there in the garden, Lex missed Martha, but having Conner come up and hand them the rings with that smirk that was right out of the mirror….

“I do.”

Lex didn’t even remember the lead up, but the words rolled off his tongue with the full force of his heart.

“Do you, Clark Kent….”

“I do.”

“You may now kiss.”

Lex melted into Clark’s kiss, touching at every possible inch. The slight bump of Clark’s belly pressed into Lex’s ribs. Family, right here. Lex’s family.

~o0o~

Clark didn’t care for chatting with nobility and political powers from around the world. But he also didn’t care, because he was with Lex. His husband.

Who looked exquisite. Where Clark was trimmed in blue, Lex was trimmed in purple, just a shade darker than the mental bond between them. Jimmy’s photos were going to be beautiful.

“Just a little longer,” Lex promised as they approached the cake table. “And if you shove cake in my face….”

“Would I embarrass you like that?”

Conner snickered from halfway across the room.

~o0o~

“Done and done,” Lex pronounced as they strode into his office.

Clark swept him up into a kiss and Lex melted into the touch. 

“No, we’re just beginning,” Clark said. “Now”—he set Lex on his feet—“Go sit in your chair.”

Lex raised an eyebrow, but followed orders, slumping back into the office chair he’d hardly used since leaving Smallville. Since the fight with Clark. Being back in this office was a weird mix of fond nostalgia and stomach churning nightmares.

Before he could get sucked into the dark times, Clark’s hands landed on the arms of the chair.

“You got your fantasy last night,” Clark said, nosing along Lex’s ear. “Tonight it’s my turn.”

“It’s our wedding night,” Lex purred. “Shouldn’t this be our chance?”

“You had your chance.” Clark dropped to his knees and fought with the catches on Lex’s tux.

“Need some help?” Lex drawled, seeking a hint of control. Clark didn’t give him a chance, somehow finding the last button without ripping a stitch.

“Nope.” And Clark went down.

“Clark!”

“You know how many times I wondered about you power tripping behind this desk?”

Lex slid his fingers into Clark’s hair. “This desk?”

Clark smirked. “Well, this one is more accessible.” He slid one hand under Lex and somehow slid his pants down and off.

“Careful with those.”

“Of course,” Clark purred, nibbling up Lex’s thigh. “I wanna see you in them again someday.”

“So, Presidential blowjob?”

Clark lifted Lex with one hand and set him on the desk. “Nope. I wanna see Mr. All Powerful Businessman wrecked across this desk.”

A shiver round down Lex’s spine. The intent look on Clark’s face was an insane turn on. He twisted a little and slipped the nearest drawer open. He’d dropped a fresh bottle in a few places last night, just in case.

The bottle was gone before the drawer was fully open. Clark was slipping inside Lex a moment later.

“So good,” Lex hissed, arching into Clark’s touch. Warm, firm hands gripped his hips. Hands that could crush him in an instant, and never would. God, what a turn on.

The desk rocked under them. “You like to live dangerously.”

Lex purred and wrapped his hands around Clark’s upper arms. “I married you, didn’t I.”

Clark threw his head back and laughed, then sped up his thrusts.

“Deeper,” Lex orderd.

“You’re not in charge,” Clark countered. And yet Lex felt more slid inside, felt himself stretch, and felt Clark reach that point deep inside.

“Yes,” Lex hissed.

“Gonna… gonna….” Clark’s hips stuttered.

“Thought you were gonna wreck me,” Lex drawled.

Clark tangled one hand in Lex’s tentacles and slid the other over his nipple. Clark’s hips held still, but deep inside the motions continued, pegging both Lex’s prostate and that point deep down over and over and over. Until Lex exploded.

When Clark slumped across him, Lex could taste release across his tongue.

“Look pretty wrecked to me,” Clark muttered into Lex’s neck.

“Mmmmm,” Lex agreed.

“Bed?”

“Mmhmm.”

Good think his husband was superman. Lex’s legs weren’t going to work for a while. And if Clark’s wouldn’t, that’s what flying was fore.


	8. Round Two for Lex

_Nepotism at LuthorCorp_

Clark snickered as Lex growled over the headlines in the business section. 

“He’s my son, but it’s not like I made him Vice President,” Lex snapped, almost tearing the page as he turned it.

“Actually, they think you’re spoiling your brother-in-law.” Clark had already skimmed the article and several others like it. “It seems none of them realize he’s got that MBA.”

“Poison?”

Lex’s fork hit the plate with a loud clatter that drew Clark’s attention. It should have made more noise, actually, except it was clear from a look that Lex had barely eaten this morning.

“You do not look like you’re being poisoned,” Clark said, leaning closer. “Stop reading the tabloids.”

“This is the business section,” Lex raged, looking both angry and more than a little green.

“Lex, ignore them. This will pass soon enough.” Clark set a hand on his husband’s as he tossed his fork down again, the food on it untouched. “Have you eaten anything this morning?”

Lex looked at him, frowned, and looked away. “I’m fine. This crap would turn anyone off their feed.”

“I know you don’t like breakfast much, but putting back on a few pounds would stop with the theories that I’m poisoning you.” Clark tried to sound coaxing and teasing, but it came out more concerned. 

A shiver went through Lex and Clark became really concerned. Lex never got sick. “Lex, love, have you eaten?

Sighing, Lex shook his head.

“Nausea?”

“I never get sick,” Lex muttered.

Clark took a deep breath and scanned Lex up and down. And found exactly what he’d feared. “Lex, we have to go talk to Jor-El.”

Lex froze in his seat, then wilted and closed his eyes. “You sure?”

“You knew?”

“I suspected…. Call my office?” Even as Lex said that, he was pulling out his cell phone. Clark listened as Lex told Agent Miles he was leaving.

“Mrs. Conroy,” Clark asked, stepping into the kitchen for a moment. “Can you call Lex’s office and let them know he won’t be in today?”

“Poor dear, is he alright?” Her motherly concern was a balm to Clark. Not quite his mother, but still lovely to experience.

“He’ll be fine, but it’s going to be a rough day. Tell them to cover what they can and delay everything else. He’ll probably be back and raring to go tomorrow.”

“And in denial, I’m sure.” She shook her head. “Alright, you take good care of him, Mr. Kent. I’ll sort out things here.”

For a cook, she sure seemed to know a lot about LuthorCorp, but Clark was too grateful for the help to start asking questions.

“Ready?” Lex asked when Clark came back into view. He looked resigned and in a lot of pain.

“Yes.” Clark scooped up his husband and flew them out through the automatically opening sliding glass door Lex had added as a wedding present.

The flight to his fortress was both fast and took far too long. The heat started increasing the moment the sensors spotted Lex, a feature that had started the last few times they had visited. Clark was grateful not to have to remember to order his father not to freeze his husband to death.

“Kal-El, Lex Luthor, how may I be of assistance?”

“I think Lex is pregnant again. Please confirm,” Clark ordered, setting Lex into the already open medical chamber. The red beams filled the air before Clark could completely back out, and winked out a moment later.

“Lex Luthor is pregnant. The fetus is not viable and his body will expel it shortly.”

Lex let out a small sob and a single tear slid down his cold cheek before he slammed down his usual mask. Clark held out his arm, trying to pull his husband into a hug, but Lex walked past to Jor-El’s control console.

“Do we know why the fetus is not viable?” Lex demanded.

“Once the fetus is expelled I may be able to speculate. At present, I have insufficient information from the scan to say more than that the placenta has separated from the stomach lining, which I believe to indicate means imminent expulsion.”

Clark stepped up behind Lex. “Is there anything we can do to make the process of expulsion easier on Lex?” Clark was rather concerned. It took Lex several days to recover last time, his throat was so raw. And Lex didn’t recover slowly from anything.

“Insufficient data,” was Jor-El’s bland reply.

“How long?”

“Insufficient data."

Clark enfolded Lex in his arms. And waited.

~o0o~

Lex Luthor did not throw up. Not when he was hung over. Not when he was drugged out. Not when he had the flu. 

Not that he ever had those problems. Ever.

But, apparently, Lex Luthor did throw up. But only when having a miscarriage.

Clark whisked away the container the moment Lex stopped heaving. It was both worse and better than last time. He was still conscious. But his throat felt like hell, and watching all that red and gelatinous matter go past was not a pleasant experience.

“Jor-El should have an analysis soon,” Clark said, wrapping himself back around Lex.

“Month old,” Lex forced past his torn throat.

“Why do you…” Clark stiffened against Lex for a moment. “Our wedding night…. You think…?”

Lex nodded, not wanting to try talking again. He probably should drink something, but it hurt too much to consider, and his stomach was still churning. Probably would be for another couple of hours, if last time was any example.

“So, why faster this time?” Clark muttered. “Last time you made it to two months.”

“The fetus contains a higher concentration of Kryptonian DNA,” Jor-el’s voice rang out, startling Lex from his cocoon of Clark. “Lex Luthor is correct as to the age.”

_Huh…_ Lex had been pretty sure he’d done this to himself when he caught his own ejaculate during their party on the desk after the wedding. Now if he could just figure out how his body was creating these fertilized ovum… and some timeframe….

“So Lex’s body didn’t like the extra Kryptonian DNA, and that’s why he lost the fetus faster?” Clark asked, and Lex wanted to smack him for such an obvious question.

“Correct.”

Unfortunately, it was unlikely for Jor-El to have the answers to the harder questions.

“Having observed the process of rejection,” Clark said stiffly, sounding pained at his choice of words, “can you offer treatment to ease the process, or speed healing after?”

“Yes.” 

Lex only partly listened as Jor-El laid out a proposed liquid that might lubricated the process of vomiting and perhaps limit the damage to Lex’s throat. He didn’t want to find ways to make the miscarriages easier. He wanted to find a way to carry to term.

“Can you—“ Lex had to break off. His throat just wouldn’t let him keep going.

A moment later, Clark offered a cup of something. “An analgesic, for the pain,” he said. “Though you probably shouldn’t talk for a bit longer.”

The telepathy between them wasn’t consistent, even the empathy came and went, but Lex projected hard. _Tell that overclocked piece of junk to look for ways to prevent rejection instead of easing it._

Clark looked at him, an expression of utter sadness on his face.

_You don’t think he can…._ Lex looked away and tried to take a sip from the cup as a cover. It didn’t go down so well, but the pain faded. Just a bit.

“Lex… I asked… it would require suppressing your immune system to a degree that would kill you.”

_Stick me in a bubble for nine months._

“And if your immune system didn’t come back?” Clark shook his head and nudged the cup up again for another sip. “I know you want to try for a child, but I won’t let you do it in a manner that would probably cost you your life.”

_My life for my child’s? Plenty of women make that choice._

“Please, Lex, let’s try and find another way.” Clark buried his face in Lex’s neck and wetness trailed across his skin. “We’re not childless…” Clark’s voice seemed to vanish and maybe Lex was imagining what he thought he heard next. “I can’t lose you.”

Lex shoved the idea aside. He wouldn’t ask Jor-El about that option. He couldn’t do that to Clark. Lex leaving him might just do what Darkseid couldn’t. He couldn’t miss the horror Clark radiated at the though, the loss, the misery.

He’d have to find another way. J’onn thought there might be a mental component to the procreative process, and that Lex hadn’t conceived again until he was out of his depression might support that. He’d have to set up regular appointments with Jor-El, study his reactions before, during, and after sex for the triggers to fertilization, how the egg was implanted and how long after. If this child was more Kryptonian, perhaps it was because Lex had been wanting to give Clark a child more like Conner, one who could carry on the Kryptonian legacy fully.

Lex just needed a plan. And then to follow through. He could do anything with a plan.

And a bit of luck.

After all, that’s what finally got him Clark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit rough, but I think it gets across the next plot points. I was rather rough on Lex, but I'm afraid he's got a bit of a rough situation to work though. Poor guy.


	9. The American People

Ellie Donahue smiled into the camera as the light changed from red to green.

“Good evening, America, and welcome to Inside the Truth. Tonight we have a very special guest and we’ve allotted him our whole evening. I am pleased to introduce one of the two very special men who go by the infamous title of Superman. Please welcome Kon-El.”

The canned applause started and Kon-El walked in wearing his very familiar uniform.

“Welcome, Kon-El. Or should I call you Superman?” Ellie said as Kon sat.

“Kon is just fine,” Kon said with a smile. “Superman is more of a title, and one I share. _My_ name is Kon, of the house of El.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about Kryptonian naming traditions.”

Kon chuckled. “Neither am I honestly. Kal’s always after me to learn more about the homeworld.”

“But I do believe it recently came out that you share the title of Superman with your father…?”

“That is exactly what I came here to talk about tonight. Yes and no.”

Ellie raised an eyebrow and cocked her head sweetly. “Yes and no. Well, that’s certainly an intriguing answer. I can’t wait to hear more.”

“Yes, in a sense, Kal-El is my father. But the story is more complicated than that.”

“I admit, we’ve long wondered just how the two supermen related. Why step forward now to explain? It’s been decades since you surfaced to share your father’s role as a superhero.”

“Well, part of it is that Kal slipped up a few months back… but also…” Kon shrugged shyly. “Well, Kal refrained from saying anything out of respect for my privacy, and I feel it’s time for the truth to be heard.”

“You seem determined to keep stringing us along.” Ellie leaned forward, just enough to show interest without flashing anything inside her blouse.

“Sorry.” Kon laughed. “Actually, it’s kind of hard to know where to begin, no matter how many times I rehearsed this in my head.”

“Well, the masters like to say, ‘Begin at the beginning.’”

They share a chuckle.

“Ah, but what is the beginning?” Kon held his hands up before she can reply. “No, honestly, it’s a hard question to answer. I’ve been trying to figure it out most of my life. Does it begin with me, or with Kal?”

“You keep calling him Kal. Is that a distance between your, or habit of refraining from sharing your personal relationship?”

“Well, I admit sometimes I use _Ukr_. That’s Kryptonian for father. But it’s also for clarification. I’m Kon, he’s Kal. We get mistaken for each other a lot. Everyone sees the uniform first, the face above it last.”

Ellie nodded. “So, the beginning? I admit, I’m dying to know your secrets.”

“Ah, not just my secrets. I could go back to when Kal arrived on Earth… I considered it. But I think the part you need to hear really starts with Lionel Luthor.”

“Oh ho.” Ellie clapped her hands. “Suddenly I have a new theory on why now.”

“You might be right. A lot of Lionel’s old secrets are coming to roost. Let me add one more.”

“Please do.”

“Lionel Luthor was a master of control. He wanted to control everything. His life. His company. His son. But Lex Luthor didn’t take well to control. And none of Lionel’s other sons showed promise.”

“That would be Julian?”

“Julian didn’t survive to show his potential, sadly.” Kon glanced down a moment. “Lucas Dunelevy was another son, raised on the streets of Star City after a bad adoption. He was strong, but not focused in a way Lionel thought he could use. So Lionel decided to try growing a new son, one he could control.”

“Grow?” Ellie sounded appropriately appalled. “I fear you’re not talking about taking a new wife.”

“After the revelations about Lionel’s other science experiments?” Kon shook his head. “No, he turned to science to solve what he perceived as his problems.”

“You don’t agree?”

“I don’t agree to turning to cloning because I don’t like my children. I don’t believe it’s right to play god because I’m a bad father….” Kon paused and shook his head. “Sorry, it’s a bit of a sore spot for me. I think Lex is a good man, and Lionel wanted to replace him. For no reason other than he couldn’t control the man he’d forced to be strong.”

“I’m sorry,” Ellie said softly, her hand reaching out toward him across the arm of her chair.

Kon threw a hand in the air. “Everyone has their sore spots. But let me get to the point. Lionel tried to clone Lex, but found that the mutation from the ’89 meteor shower left his genetic code unsuited for the process. I don’t know why. I just know it didn’t work.”

“So what did Lionel do next?”

“Don’t think he gave up?”

Ellie shook her head. “Not a chance.”

Kon pointed at her. “You’d be right. Lionel had a few other genetic samples, and he decided to try combining Lex’s DNA with some of those other samples, to see if they could stabilize the cloning process.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll share just who’s DNA Lionel was using?”

“Well, I can tell you one set. Kal-El.”

Her hand touched her mouth as though she were surprised, but Ellie’s eyes showed she’d seen this coming some time ago. “Really?”

“Really.”

“How did Lionel Luthor get Kal-El’s DNA? I mean, I assumed this started well before he came to Earth.”

“Well… Kal’s been here on Earth a bit longer than people think. And no, I won’t give specifics. That’s up to him. But somehow Lionel got ahold of Kal’s DNA, and mixed it with Lex’s, and grew himself some clones.”

“Some?”

“There were a bunch of us, once upon a time… But with the testing, the failed attempts, the… well they tried to speed our growth. A baby wasn’t much use to Lionel, but a grown man, raised in a contained environment, programmed from birth, that was perfect.”

“What you’re describing sounds like a cross between science fiction and horror.”

“Tell me about it. And I lived it.”

“You’re really telling us that you’re some kind of… attempt at cloning Lex Luthor that added in Kal-El’s DNA?”

“Well, a clone is usually a person with identical DNA to the original person.” Kon smirked, a smirk that the people of the USA were very familiar with over the last few years. “I’m a fairly even combination of two sets of DNA, and a person of combined DNA are usually called children”

“So… Basically, you’re the son of Lex Luthor and Superman.”

Kon grinned. “Basically.”

“That’s… unbelievable.”

“As I said, tell me about it. This is my life, and sometimes I can’t believe it.”

Ellie leaned back in her chair and steepled her hands before her chest. “Wow. This is really amazing.”

“Understatement of the year.”

“So… We know you survived Lionel’s attempt at training. Were there many who did? How did you escape?”

“Escape… Not exactly.”

“You’re hedging again. Why?”

“It’s not all my story to tell. So many are gone….”

“But not all. Kon, I don’t want to push, but you’ve shared so much. You have to understand how curious you’ve made me. Made everyone.”

~o0o~

“Lex!” Clark yelled across the penthouse. “Get in here.”

“Busy,” Lex replied, his voice unraised since Clark could hear him anywhere in the world.

“Your son just outed you as a father.” Clark had resisted calling Lex in before by the skin of his teeth, assuming Conner had cleared this little interview with at least one genetic donor. Clark was no longer convinced of that.

“What?!”

Clark was completely convinced Conner had done an end run around both of them.

~o0o~

“It was one of the few of us who turned out actually looking like Lex that brought about the end,” Kon said, looking wistful. “Lionel wanted to use him to replace Lex, thought he’d finally created the perfect son.”

“If this was the end, I assume he was… incorrect in that assessment.” Ellie was leaning in again, as if entranced.

“Lionel always loved to believe his own hype,” Kon said, chuckling. “Lex Two, as we tended to call him, got a bit pissed. He wanted Lex’s life, but also realized it wasn’t his to have. What right did he have to take over another’s life?” Kon shook his head. “Who knew any of that training could create a moral center?

“Well, not a perfect one. Lex Two decided if he couldn’t claim that life from the original, none of the rest of us could either. He blew the lab one night when most everyone was asleep.” A tear trickled down Kon’s cheek and the camera zoomed in to catch the way it twinkled in the stage lights.

~o0o~

“Did you know how the lab finally went up?” Lex demanded.

Clark shook his head. “He’s never talked about it. Not to me. Maybe J’onn knew.”

“How did he survive?” Lex asked, almost sounding choked with emotion. “That place was riddled with kryptonite.”

“I don’t know. I’d assumed he was out on a training mission. The records were rather damaged when the JLA dug them out of the rubble.”

“The version in the LuthorCorp servers wasn’t much better.”

Clark and Lex shared an intrigued look.

~o0o~

“How did you survive?” Ellie’s sympathetic tone struck just the right note.

“Luck.” Kon smirked a purely Luthor smirk.

“Oh, you’re hiding something again.”

Kon shook his head. “Not my story to tell, I’m afraid.”

“And you won’t get anything more from him,” a voice said from just offstage.

Ellie sat up straight. “Oh ho, who’s this?”

Another young man, looking much like Kon but dressed in designer jeans and a button up shirt stepped onto the stage. “I’m afraid he’s covering for me… but enough covering.” He graced Ellie with a sweet smile as he came closer. “I’m Conner Kent, and I’m the other survivor from that night.”

~o0o~

“What the fuck?” Lex bellowed.

Clark just settled into his seat. His son was up to something, and knowing that the kid had his other father’s sense of humor, this should get interesting. The real question was how Kon had talked J’onn into helping with this little farce.

~o0o~

“Conner Kent?” Ellie tapped her lip and looked thoughtful. “And you’re saying you’re another... clone?”

“Close enough term for it.” Conner stepped up and caught her hand to press a kiss to the back.

“And apparently quite a charmer,” she purred.

Conner grinned. “I like to think I got that from Pops. I apologize for cutting in, but Kon seems to need help.”

Ellie waved at the love seat across from her. Kon was perched on one side, leaving room enough, barely, for another man. “Please, join us.”

Conner sat, and the two were shoulder to shoulder, literally. “Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t have come,” Kon said softly, yet loudly enough for the cameras to catch it.

“You’re right, it’s time to tell the truth,” Conner said, never taking his eyes from Ellie. “What my erstwhile half-brother here doesn’t want to say is Lex Two had a soft spot for me and let me know what he was planning. I couldn’t get out of there on my own, I’m not that strong, but I knew Kon and I might have a chance if we worked together.”

“Not that strong?” Ellie asked pointedly. 

Conner flexed an arm. “As you’ve likely guessed, I was grown from a combination of Lex Luthor’s DNA and Clark Kent’s—“

“Clark Kent, the Metropolis reporter?”

“And new husband of Lex Luthor, you got it.” Conner pointed at her and winked. “Clark’s metahuman. Super strong. I got a lot of that, along with the stunning Kent features. And I hid just how strong I was from the doctors that ran the lab.” He looked over at Kon. “They didn’t think I could get out of my quarters, or get around the Kryptonite they kept around to control the Kal based clones.”

“We’d become friends….” Kal shrugged, looking over at Ellie. “Not all of us got along, But Conner and I did. He got me out, and together we worked our way through the rest….” His head dropped for a moment, his eyes squeezed tight.

“Just in time,” Conner continued. “I wish….”

Kon’s hand gripped Conner’s. “There were so many others… I wish we could have done more for them.”

“No one else…?” Ellie asked softly.

The two shook their heads in unison. “We’ve never met another,” Kal said sadly. 

“I’m sorry,” Ellie said, and let the silence linger for a moment. “But what an amazing story,” she finally continued. “I can see why you kept it quiet this long. Any chance the recent marriage of your mutual father is part of why you’ve come forward?”

Both men smirked that familiar smirk. Pure Luthor.

“Alright. I can see I’m not getting a clear answer there.” Ellie smiled, but there was challenge in that grin. “So, Conner, I believe I saw you in your… hmmm, well, at the time he was called your brother—“

Conner cut her off with a laugh. “I looked fourteen when I got out of the labs, and Clark was barely twenty. You try explaining to anyone that I was actually his son.”

Ellie chuckled as well. “I can see how that would be a problem.”

“Martha Kent took one look at me and took me in. So we called each other brother. And it works.” Conner rubbed his hands together. “Though I admit I’ve taken to using Dad sometimes. Always makes him blush.”

Kon raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Maybe I should try that.”

“What about President Luthor? I assume since you’re coming forward he knows something…?”

The two men laughed together. “Everything,” Kon added. “He knows… oh he took one look at me and just… knew. Dug up everything from the records he could, what was left of the lab, offered me a fat trust fund—”

“After he took so well to Kon, I… found a way to swing by.” Conner smirked. “I took the trust fund.” He waved at the camera. “Thanks, Pops.”

~o0o~

Lex was turning a concerning share of puce and Clark pulled his husband into his arms in the hopes of calming him.

“He doesn’t mean any harm,” Clark whispered.

“My reputation,” Lex sputtered.

“Is going to soar. You’ve got ‘two’ sons who love you, and you’ve supported completely. Tell me people aren’t going to love that?”

“There are people in this country that hate anything and everything,” Lex spat.

Clark chuckled. “And you’ve already pissed them all off by marrying me.” He nibbled along the curve of Lex’s ear and waited until he got the right shiver of arousal. “Now everyone else will think you’re an adorable family man.”

“I am not an adorable—“

“I think you’re absolutely adorable. And the family man image is just what we need next month.”

Lex froze for a moment, then squirmed around in Clark’s arms until he was straddling his husband’s lap and could press his hands over the bulge of their daughters. “I’ll be damned… He didn’t get those PR skills from you.”

“That’s for sure,” Clark agreed.

~o0o~

“I have to ask,” Ellie said, leaning forward. “Pops?”

The men giggled and shared a wicked grin. “Well, we had to call him something,” Kon began.

“Oh, this was all your fault,” Conner countered.

“Oh, but the way he would be torn between pleasure and being horrified….” Kon leaned back, smiling beatifically. 

“Really, Father was too formal, and Dad gives him this weird twitch,” Conner said.

“I think it’s tied back with Lionel,” Kon added darkly.

“I can see how that might be … complicated,” Ellie said.

“Quite,” Conner said dryly. “Well, we needed something, and Lex I suppose would have been fine.”

“Boring,” Kon countered. “I went hunting through possibilities in English. Papa was tempting.”

“But a bit too much like something a five-year-old-girl would use,” Conner said.

“And well, when he turned that shocked shade of red at Pops…”

“It stuck.”

Ellie laughed. “I get the impression you two have been longing to tell that story for ages.”

“Oh, maybe for a bit,” Kon agreed.

“I have to wonder who else knows…? I mean, I assume you’ve kept this rather quiet.” Ellie frowned for a moment but threw on a smile again quickly.

“Well, Clark only recently learned that Pops knew,” Conner said. 

“Well, same with Kal to be honest,” Kon said. “They both took it rather well.”

“Some of the JLA has known for ages,” Conner said. “They helped us recover after the lab blew.”

“Martha Kent of course.” Kon looked sad. “She was always… wonderful.”

“Supportive,” Conner added.

“A perfect mother figure really.”

Ellie tilted her head curiously. “So you knew Martha Kent?”

“The Kents have had a connection with the Els for generations.” Kon looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think Jor-El, Kal’s father, came to Earth once and met Jonathan’s father. When Kal got here… well….”

“What he’s hedging about is that the Kents helped Kal get settled on Earth,” Conner cut in. “No point hiding it. All the people involved are dead now, so it can’t hurt them.”

“What about Clark?” Ellie asked.

Conner raised an eyebrow. “He’s friends with both Supermen and married to President Lex Luthor. Tell me, honestly, do you think he isn’t well protected?”

Ellie nodded thoughtfully. “And what about you?”

Conner chuckled. “I’ve got my own Secret Service team since the wedding, though I think some of them knew something was up before then.”

Kon grinned cockily. “I might have snuck us into the White House once or twice.”

“Or more,” Conner coughed. “Lots more.”

“And I’m pretty sure some of the staff knew.” Kon shot his ‘brother’ a glare. “We only pulled him away when he needed a moment to unwind. He’s the first president in ages not to have a family to support him in office.”

“He had a family,” Conner countered. “Us.”

“Exactly,” Kon said, wrapping an arm around Conner’s shoulders. “So we supported him, and occasionally dragged him off to watch a movie…. Or rather fall asleep on the couch.”

“You two are too much,” Ellie said. “I’m glad you were there to support President Luthor during his term of service.”

~o0o~

“Me too,” Lex whispered, snuggling down in Clark’s arms.

~o0o~

“So, Conner, recently your fathers married. Each other.” Ellie tapped her lip. “How did that make you feel?”

“Delighted,” Conner said with a big grin. “Are you kidding, I was ecstatic. Clark offered me Best Man, but I couldn’t. I mean, isn’t every kid of separated parents supposed to be ring bearer when they finally tie the not.”

Ellie laughed lightly. “Oh, now I get that. I admit, I’d wondered. But this means Kon will never have the same pleasure.”

Kon laughed, then stopped, his face turning red as he held his breath and his ribs twitched.

“Sorry,” Conner said, elbowing Kon in the ribs. “He’s been positing crazy ideas for days….”

“Sorry,” Kon wheezed. “Really, it’s okay. I’m fine with Pops and Clark marrying. They’re good people, and they’ve loved each other so long.”

“Wasn’t Clark Kent married to Lois Lane for—“

“And he loves her,” Kon said. “I never meant to imply otherwise. But they’ve been in love, whether they admitted it or not, since they were friends in Smallville. Personally, I think this marriage was destiny.

“Destiny?” Ellie asked.

“Oh yeah,” Conner said. “Stuff of Legends.”

~o0o~

“I know I never mentioned that to them,” Clark said.

Lex countered with an unintelligible mutter.

~o0o~

“Well, we’re running out of time, but I admit I do have one last question,” Ellie said.

“Go on,” Conner said.

“Well, looking at the two of you…” She waved her hand at the two men. “You have to admit there’s a bit of a resemblance.”

“Well, yes, we had noticed that,” Kon prompted.

“Well, have you ever wondered why?”

Conner nodded. “Oh yeah. It’s kinda… weird. But...” He shrugged. “We know why. We’re related.”

Ellie frowned. “I know you’re both related to President Luthor, but—“

“No,” Kon cut in. “We’re related to Pops, sure, but we don’t look like him. We look like Kal and Clark. And they’re related.”

Ellie rocked back in her seat. “How…?”

Conner leaned in a little, looking pleased with himself. “Well, we got to wondering the same thing. I mean, look at us. We do look like brothers. And trust me, if you ever saw Kal and Clark together, you’d notice it with them. We don’t know exactly who Clark’s parents are. He was adopted after the meteor shower of ’89 by the Kents.”

“However, we do know he shares a lot of characteristics with the local Indian tribe, the Kawatche,” Kon continued. “And legend has it, the Kawatche were founded by a man from the stars and his native bride.”

“Clark’s Kawatche. Not pure blood, but the genetic tests show he’s matralinially connected.”

Ellie cut Conner off there. “What?”

“Sorry.” Conner turned a bit red. “His mother was descended from the tribe. Most of the members of the tribe have the same Matrilineal DNA, DNA passed from mother to child. Clark’s got it too, so he’s related.”

“And…” Kon paused dramatically. “Our records from Krypton say certain Kryponians are capable of reproduction with other races… and a number of Kryptonians have visited Earth over the centuries. So the Kawatche are probably descended from one of those explorers, as is Clark.”

“It’s possible being exposed to the meteors made him more Kryptonian,” Conner added. “Kind of activated any latent Kryptonian elements in his genetic makeup. It might explain why he’s so strong, but it’s not a side mutation like it is with so many other metahumans.”

“That’s…. fascinating,” Ellie said, finally looking a little glassy-eyed.

“We think so,” Kon chirped just as Ellie’s hand went to her ear.

“Oh dear, I’m afraid we’re out of time. Gentlemen, thank you both so much for talking with me today.”

“Thank you for having us,” Kon said, and Conner nodded.

“I’m sure your revelations will have America talking for weeks.” Ellie turned to the camera. “Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s Inside the Truth.”


	10. Enter the Twins

“That was not pleasant,” Clark muttered, leaning back against the cushions Jor-El had produced for him.

Lex raised a pointed eyebrow.

“Thank you—“

“Ah, save your voice,” Lex said, pointing at Clark. “You’ve put your throat through a bit of stress.”

_Thank you, Lex, for helping Jor-El find a means of easing the process,_ Clark countered telepathically. If Lex’s first miscarriage had been worse than what Clark had just gone through, he couldn’t imagine how Lex had endured. Kryptonian or not, that had hurt. Lex had said Clark would thank him after, and he was right.

Lex smiled. “Well, thank you for enduring it.” He glanced over to the side, taking in where the baby cradles lay, little pink fists waving above the crystalline walls.

_They’re beautiful, aren’t they?_ While giving birth was a miserable process Clark wouldn’t recommend to anyone, he could see going through it again. With results like this.

“Clark….” Lex’s voice trailed off as a tear ran down his cheek. “Thank you.”

_Come here, love._

Lex carefully lifted one daughter and set her in Clark’s arms. Then he settled the other in his arms and lay on the bed next to Clark. The bed was just wide enough, barely. 

“Ack, mushy parents.” Conner’s voice echoed through the room, sounding far more delighted than his words suggested.

“Get over here,” Lex ordered, pointing at the foot of the bed.

“I gotta say, Clark,” Conner said, plopping on the end of the bed over Clark’s feet. The bed suddenly grew longer to accommodate him, which just proved who was Jor-El’s favorite. “I don’t ever want to go through that myself.”

“I’m sure most women of any variety has much the same opinion after watching a live birth,” Lex drawled.

“Hmm, true. But I gotta say, love the results.” Conner reached out and ran a gentle finger down his sister’s cheek, the one in Clark’s arms. “Always wanted a sister.”

_You just wanted a family,_ Clark countered. Just like me.

Conner smiled shyly. “You may have a point. You do realize I’m not going to be your live in babysitter?”

_We’d never do that to you._

Lex scoffed. “Free help is worth what you pay for it. I’ve been interviewing for weeks. She’ll be moved in tomorrow.”

Clark smiled at his husband, his lover, his Lex. Of course he had it all under control.

“They’re so small,” Conner whispered. His hand could cover one if he tried.

“They’ll grow fast,” Lex said. He should know. He and Clark had been going over the database for details on Kryptonian child development for months. They’d be normal human sized in a few days and walking inside of a year.

“So, did you ever pick out names?”

Clark looked at his daughters, one with dark hair and one with red. Their eyes were currently Lex’s gray-blue, but that might change with time. Clark looked to Lex and shared a smile. They had perfect names picked out.

~o0o~

_President Lex Luthor and Clark Kent are pleased to announce the birth of their daughters, Martha Lillian and Julianna Laura._

~o0o~

_The question on everyone’s minds of late is where did the darling Luthor-Kent twins come from?_

_While most are happy that President Luthor has finally found happiness with the love of his life, no one really expected an increase to the family. The discovery of President Luthor’s two sons was more than could be believed by most._

_So while most everyone is happy for the Luthor-Kent family, they’re still wondering how two men netted themselves daughters. Surrogacy? More complex science from the realm of science fiction?_

_I had the honor of interviewing the proud papas, and they informed me the story was a little more complicated, and less. Nine months back, the latest Israel/Palestine peace talks were underway, and recently divorced Clark Kent was in Jerusalem to report on the results. While there, he had a short lived fling with another reporter who has asked to keep her name out of the record books. Nine months later, she delivered twin girls and handed custody over to their father._

_It’s a convenient story, but is it the truth? Lois Lane has been in the public eye the whole time, so it seems unlikely that the twins are the result of one last good night before the divorce was final. Still, everyone knows the wonders that LuthorCorp is capable of, and has been capable of in the past. While Lex Luthor isn’t his father, who’s to say he isn’t capable of a little judicious cloning?_

_Either way, the little Julianna Laura and Martha Lillian are destined to be the belles of Metropolis for years to come._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that, I think, is that. Thank you for accompanying me on this crazy ride. I hope you all enjoyed, and do keep an eye out. One of these days I might start _Zehdh_.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested, Shokh is Kryptonian for truth.


End file.
